


Why is it Never Quiet on The Western Front?

by ShadowStrikeRaven



Series: How Things Change [7]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-19
Updated: 2013-07-19
Packaged: 2017-12-20 17:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/890058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowStrikeRaven/pseuds/ShadowStrikeRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the Brotherhood preparing to unleash an army of dangerous creatures on Camelot, Merlin needing to go to Avalon, Gwaine having, half drunken 'Im a terrible, useless friend' issues and the chance for romance blooming in Merlin's life, Can anything ever work itself out? Either way, Fate's playing a rather twisted game. No.6 in the How Things Change Series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aeva](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Aeva).



Welcome back! Sorry it's taken a while to update, but It's been hectic, with Exams and various other things in real life.   
So my apologies, and I hope this makes up for the wait!  
(Translations for spells etc are at the bottom of the chapter)

_

Arthur had been pacing for nearly half an hour, and Taren and Gwen alike were getting tired of it.  
Gaius had found her, giving her a brief word on what Merlin had said, and she had immediately taken off towards the lower town. She couldn't care less about the looks that the members of the court had given her, as she had rushed past them, intent on reaching Arthur.  
There, he had explained what had been going on, and three or four townspeople who had heard rushed off to spread the news. Within twenty minutes, most of Camelot had heard about what was going on, in that Camelot's Court Sorcerer had vanished, literally, for a rescue attempt, an army of magical creatures were preparing to march on Camelot, and half of their knightly population, not to mention the majority of their sorcerers, were preparing to ride out.  
Now, Arthur was looking impatient, and though they could both understand his frustration, they knew nothing would come of it. Eventually, Gwen had had enough.  
"Arthur… You need to calm down… We're as worried about Merlin as you are, but pacing around the room isn't helping. He will contact us when he can. Taren's already said that he is still alive…"  
"But for all we know, he could be unconscious… captured… anything!" Arthur ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "I know he's powerful… But the force we are up against isn't to be taken lightly. He's only one man…"  
"I know…" Gwen nodded, in response, "And sometimes I think we place too much pressure on him. He's under so much stress with negotiating with the druid clans, and not just those in Camelot at the moment… As well as his usual work and the paperwork he has to fill out now that he is a member of the Court…"  
Arthur realised his wife was right, ad immediately felt guilty about piling the extra paperwork onto Merlin's already loaded schedule. Gwen spoke up again,  
"And there is the fact that he has been filling all of his spare time with experiments and projects and putting wards around the key paces in Camelot…"  
Arthur started slightly at that.  
"He didn't tell me…?" Then he realised that it was just the kind of thing Merlin would do.  
"Well, Sire," Taren butt in, "He knew you were already busy, and didn't want you focusing on everything else. I've been helping him out, but the power that some of the wards and shields need is… well, frankly, it's incredible that he has managed to go for so long without sleep…"  
"The idiot…" Arthur sighed, and sat down, now more worried than before, to wait for Merlin to contact them.  
_

Merlin opened his eyes, gasping. He was slightly disorientated for a moment, before he realised he was staring at a canopy of trees. He quickly got to his feet, scanning the area for threats. When nothing immediate jumped out, he relaxed for a moment, getting his strength back. The jump had taken most of the energy in the crystal, as well as sapping all of the immediately available strength in his body. But there was enough in the crystal to ease his normal level of energy back into him, and he felt for his magic, to determine how much he could risk.  
A huge grin split across his face as he realised that he wasn't inhibited in any way, though it unnerved him slightly to realise just how much power he was gaining.  
After a few more moments, he reached out, feeling for the trace he had marked on Gwaine. He located it, but before he could act on it, a screech rent the air above him.  
Looking up, he saw two wyverns circling, preparing to dive. He called out, mentally as to avoid drawing notice to himself, aiming his words at the two scaled creatures above him.  
"Gadewch! Peidiwch â ymosod!"  
After a few tense seconds, after Merlin had to struggle through something that seemed to be guarding the creature's minds, the two beasts flew away, leaving Merlin to sigh in relief. Apparently, the control the creatures were under couldn't overcome the will of a Dragonlord…  
But he could focus on that later. He broke into a run, following the small signal coming from Gwaine.

A few minutes later, he came to the foot of a series of caves and knew it would take him hours to search them all. He cast out with his mind, focusing on Gwaine.  
"Gwaine… Think your thoughts and I'll hear them… where are you?"  
"Merlin…?"  
Merlin cursed. Even in his mind, his voice was weak. What could have happened to him?  
"Yes, Sir 'I'm drunk six days out of every seven'. Now where are you? It'll take me hours to find you unless you give me a hand here…"  
"Yep… That's definitely you, you scrawny git… took your time in getting here… Holly's going to come down…"  
"Okay…"  
Merlin cut off the connection, disturbed by the obvious lack of energy in his friend. A few moments later, and Holly appeared halfway up the mesh of catacombs. Merlin waved to let her known he'd seen her, and clambered up, unwilling to waste any more of his energy jumping if he had to heal Gwaine.  
Merlin was stood, on the edge, next to her within minutes, and followed her into the cave. As he came into the dimly lit cave, his eyes focused on the pale form of Gwaine and he gasped.  
"What happened…?"  
Merlin took in the huge gash that had rent open the knight's armour and left him with a huge wound across his chest, from his left shoulder to his right side. His skin was pale, and his breathing was laboured.  
Percival answered, also nursing injuries, but not to such an extent. Now that Merlin properly looked, Owain, Holly and the other sorcerer, Aelfric, were also sporting injuries.  
"We were just keeping watch. Staying within the forest line, but Holly sensed something. Seems that the patrols travel with wyverns. Holly and Aelfric managed to hold of the sorcerers, but couldn't keep an eye on the wyverns…"  
Holly picked up the story,  
"One of them dived at me, but Gwaine pushed me out of the way…The claws shredded the chainmail… We managed to hold them off until we could shelter in the caves, but he has just been getting worse…"

Merlin nodded, taking a deep breath.  
"What have you used already…?"  
"I tried a healing spell, but the damage was too extensive…" Aelfric said, voice grim, "Then we tried herbs, but we could only make a basic poultice… We couldn't risk going to the forest…"  
Merlin nodded, shifting through all of the spells he knew, and settling on one, tweaking it in his head.  
"Right then, let's see what I can do…"  
He sat next to Gwaine, on his knees, and raised a hand to hover over the top of the wound, before speaking into his mind again.  
"Gwaine… I'm going to try and heal you, but it's going to hurt… Don't try and fight it… You trust me..?"  
"Of course I do… And it can't get much worse… can it…? Fix me up, magic man…"  
Merlin allowed himself a small smile, before he took a deep breath and bean to chant.  
"Ddirwyn i ben gwaedu a gwella, haint atal eich pen ac yn eu galw yn ôl… cymryd frys ... gwella ..." Merlin kept a constant stream of energy flowing into the man in front of him, as he repeated the chant. Once, twice, then, on the third repetition, the wounds on Gwaine's body began to knit themselves back together. His injuries healing themselves, but painfully.  
Gwaine hissed in pain, letting out a groan, but not fighting against it. After a couple of minutes, the wound had healed over, leaving nothing but a nasty scar, and Gwaine opened his eyes, groaning.  
"Could you… not have found… a less painful way to do that?"  
"Possibly. But I was more focused on the keeping you alive beyond nightfall kinda thing… Now come on, you need to sleep…"  
Gwaine shook his head, even as he felt himself yawning.  
"What about the… creatures…" then he raised an eyebrow, "Hang on, how the heck did you get here so fast?"  
Merlin shrugged,  
"We got the message that you were in trouble, then Holly's mind cut off. Arthur's preparing the men, but they wouldn't have been here for at least three days. I wasn't waiting that long… So I grabbed a few things and jumped…"  
"You jumped it?" Gwaine, Holly and Aelfric spoke in unison, shocked, whilst Percival's eyes widened and Owain shook his head, bemused.  
"Yeah…" Merlin grinned as he realised why they were so surprised. "Oh, yeah. Long story short, I got a new toy…"  
"New toy-?" Gwaine yawned again, effectively cutting off his speech and Merlin muttered under his breath.  
"Codladh ..."  
Gwaine barely got the chance to glare before he was snoring.

Merlin rocked back, and pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the awed gazes of Holly and Aelfric, and heading to Owain, who's injuries were the most dangerous out of the remaining ones. Not as bad as Gwaine's but still bad. He held a hand over Owain's leg, muttering  
"Só leigheas ..."  
His eyes flashed gold, and the cut healed up, leaving only a faint scar. He did the same for his arm, but decided to focus on the more serious injuries before tackling the smear ones.  
Aelfric was next, having a painful burn on his shoulder, along with three claw marks down his chest.  
"Fuarú agus soothe" The sorcerer gave a small sigh of relief as the wound cooled, and the burn marks vanished to reveal his skin, unflawed. He was likewise relieved when the claw marks were dealt with, and he dull throbbing pain ceased to nothing.  
Percival had an area of blackened skin on his shoulder, leaving Merlin to wonder as to the best course of action. After examining it, he realised that it was a magical infection, but not a very dangerous one.  
"draíocht, yn dod i ben eich gwaith ..." The black immediately receded, and Merlin moved onto the gas, ignoring the growing looks of awe from the sorcerers and knights alike.  
He had just finished healing Hollys slightly fractured wrist, when she spoke up.  
"Merlin… How is it that you have the power to jump the distance of the entire kingdom and still have the energy to heal…? Its… impossible…"  
Merlin didn't want to say that he himself had no idea, so gave her the only answer he could.  
"I'm Emrys…" She looked unsatisfied at the reply, and Merlin shrugged, sighing. "That the best I can do for now…"

Now that the injuries were l dealt with, Merlin shared out the hunks of bread he had stashed in his bag, and settled down against the wall.  
Percival spoke up.  
"So, you said Arthur was preparing the men…?"  
"Yes. We just need to hold out for three to four days. Then we are going to try and get rid of this threat before it marches on Camelot."  
"How can we do that?" Owain asked, "Those creatures are some of the most dangerous in the Five Kingdoms…"  
Merlin nodded, but gave a small grin.  
"If we can find out what's controlling them, we can destroy it. The creatures will all instinctively scatter. As it is, I can barely get through to the wyvern, but I can just about control them."  
"Well," the knight responded, "That gives us a slight advantage at least. There are wyverns regularly scanning the skies… Most of the other creatures seem to be penned up."  
"Which will make for a greater stampede… If we can get that far."  
"Of course we will," Percival butted in, grinning, "You've been in worse situations than this, Merlin…"  
Merlin grinned, acknowledging the fact,  
"Yeah, at least this time I can use magic openly. Last time I faced wyvern was on that quest to see the Fisher King… and don't get me started on Serkets. Not a good idea to be stung by one, Trust me. Now, wilddorean-"  
"Merlin?" Owain butt in, smiling widely, "Whilst we all love to hear stories about how you defeated deadly creatures whilst keeping your magic a secret from the big bad king, hadn't you better send word to Arthur…? He will be wanting to hear you got here okay…"

Merlin froze, before cursing.  
"Drochrath air… Taren will kill me…"  
"Then you had better move it…"  
Merlin nodded, getting to his feet.  
"I need a source of water large enough to scry with… You found one here?"  
Holly nodded, getting up.  
"In a small alcove before you reach the main cave. I'll show you."  
She e dim into a mall tunnel, and then to a tiny cave, a small spring bubbling in it.  
Merlin grinned slightly at their 'good fortune' in finding it. Seems fate was playing games…  
He thanked Holly, who head back to the other cave and waved a hand over the small pool, focusing on the imprint on the scrying bowl in Taren's home. A few seconds later, and the pool flickered, revealing an image of Arthur, slumping down in a chair, and calling someone an idiot. No doubt who…  
"Oi! What have I done to be called Idiot, this time?"  
Merlin couldn't help laughing as Arthur fell backwards out of his chair, and almost lost the connection as he tried to supress the mirth. Eventually, however, he managed it, just as Arthur got to his feet.  
_

Arthur got to his feet, glaring at the image of Merlin's grinning face in the huge bowl. His glare turned to a smile as he realised that his friend was okay.  
"God's Merlin. Don't ever do that again…"  
"What Sire?" His face was a picture of innocence, or it would have been if not for the small upturned corner of his mouth.  
"Stay out of contact for so long. You idiot… We were worried…"  
Merlin's face split into a smile,  
"I never knew you cared Sire… Gwen? Be sure to write this down in the calendar… momentous occasion…"  
"Merlin…? Can we please be serious for a moment?"  
Merlin nodded, his smile fading slightly as he recounted everything.  
"… But Gwaine should be fine now, and I've put him to seep, so his body can fully adjust. None of the other injuries are showing any problems, so it's a safe bet that they're fine as well."  
Taren spoke up, surprise obvious in her voice,  
"You're saying that you managed to jump the length of the kingdom, and heal everyone, without falling unconscious or feeling even the slightest bit tired?"  
Merlin grinned,  
"Yup. I mean, I 'm slightly tired, but It's nothing major… And you sound a lot like Holly… Uncannily so, in fact."  
"You should get some sleep anyway…"  
Merlin smiled at her obvious concern, and nodded.  
"I will. I'll set up some basic wards, that'll alert us if anyone comes within a certain distance of the cave, but we should be safe aside from that… If I can sleep with Gwaine's snoring, that is. How far are you with preparations?"  
The question was directed at Arthur, who spoke up.  
"Pretty much fully garrisoned and ready to go. Another hour and we can leave. Hopefully cross a fair distance before nightfall… It's strange. Normally takes longer to prepare, but as soon as everyone heard you were out there, everything was done within minutes. Courtesy of some of your friends…"  
Merlin grinned,  
"Told you magic has more uses than just blasting away the bad guys…"  
"Apparently so. With the time taken from the packing and setting up camp, we can be there by mid-morning to noon in three days. You can hold out till then?"  
"Shouldn't be a problem. Anything comes up, and I'll contact Taren, via the portable mirrors."  
Arthur nodded, realising that Merlin's idea of enchanting several mirrors to take the place of the scrying bowls was a stroke of genius. Not that he would tell him that of course…  
"You got it… I guess it was a… useful idea…"  
"What…?" Merlin widened his eyes in mock outrage, "Useful? That's your way of telling me than you think it was one of my 'rare, but brilliant ideas'…"  
"I have no idea what you are going on about Merlin."  
"Of course you don't Sire. That's why you have people like me to think things through for you… You could never do it alone… your head would most likely implode…"  
Merlin grinned as Arthur's hand twitched, no doubt a reflex action.  
"Sire, I do hope you realise that throwing a goblet at me would be absolutely pointless…?"  
"Merlin?!"  
"Shut up?"  
"Oh, for the love of God. Only you could be so irritating from the other side of the kingdom."  
"I'll take that as a compliment Sire… After all, you do so rarely bestow them upon us little people…"  
Merlin turned as he heard Aelfric calling, before facing the pool again.  
"I'd better go see what's up…"  
Arthur nodded,  
"Yeah. Me and Taren are going to head out. Gwen wanted to come but…"  
"Yes, I know…" Came Gwen's disgruntled, yet resigned voice, "Camelot needs someone here… You be careful Merlin."  
"Of course milady…"  
"Merlin…"  
Merlin laughed, before stifling yawn, the day's activities having worn him out.  
"I'd better go. If anything comes up, I'll cry the mirror. Otherwise, I will see you In three days…"  
Taren and Arthur nodded,  
"You got it."  
"Stay safe…" Taren and Gwen said it in unison, and Merlin grinned his signature goofy smile.  
"Don't I always…?"  
With that, his hand swept in front of the image and it faded into nothing. Arthur got to his feet, much less tense now that he knew Merlin was okay, and they head out.

Arthur gave Gwen a quick, but passionate kiss, before mounting Turbolt. The horse was notorious for allowing no-body but Arthur, and possibly Merlin, to ride him. Almost as much as Merlin's own mare, Rádala, who, since she had first carried Merlin, would not carry anyone but him.  
It had used to irritate Arthur that Merlin was able to command such loyalty from the animals, but that time had long since passed. He now found it almost amusing.  
Hence everyone's utter shock when Rádala had let Taren seat herself on her back without so much as a whinny of protest. In explanation, Taren had simply said  
"Merlin introduced me…." before riding out near to the front of the column.  
Arthur followed almost immediately, and, without further delay, the column head out of Camelot, following South-western ridge from the city.

Merlin stifled another yawn, and head back to the main cave.  
"The others should be arriving by noon in three days' time. You wanted me Aelfric?"  
"Yes… Just to say that I managed to get Holly's mind link back up between us. I'm not sure about the range though…"  
"Okay… But we can't risk testing it out until Arthur arrives… As long as it' strong enough to send basic messages…?"  
"We can do that."  
"Then we'll settle for that, for now."  
Merlin yawned again, realising that this must be some kind of record. Normally, he either smothered them or was asleep before he had finished yawning the first time.  
But his hasty stifling of it fooled no-one, and Percival yanked him down.  
"Oi, you may be the 'all powerful magic man', but even you need sleep…"  
Merlin nodded, not even bothering to argue, much to the group's surprise. But it also let them know that he actually really needed sleep, if he was acknowledging it to himself. He still insisted on setting several wards, however, that, although they would not be very effective in keeping out attackers for long, they would do enough to warn them if someone passed the boundaries he had set.  
After that, and checking on Gwaine, Merlin slid down against the wall, making himself comfortable.  
As he rolled up his jacket, and lay it under his head, telling the others to wake him at the slightest hint of trouble, he felt his body relaxing. Typical, he thought, as he nodded off, his first chance at a decent sleep in ages, and it was when he was facing one of the worst threats e ad ever encountered. It was with these thoughts that he eventually fell asleep.  
The others remained awake, discussing how impossible their friend was, and how much he had done for them. This conversation carried them well into the night, when Aelfric insisted on taking first watch.  
The sorcerer wrapped his cloak around himself, thinking through their conversation, through all of his own knowledge about the young, raven haired warlock asleep at the far side of the cave, and he shook his head. He truly was… Impossibly… Merlin.  
_____

 

Translations of spells, incantations, etc:

"Gadewch! Peidiwch â ymosod!" - "Leave! Do not attack!"  
"Ddirwyn i ben gwaedu a gwella, haint atal eich pen ac yn eu galw yn ôl… cymryd frys ... gwella - " -Wound cease bleeding and heal, infection halt your passage and be recalled, take haste... heal...  
(Not very eloquently worded, but sounds cool when said in welsh… yes, I'm cheating and not translating to Gaelic… Whoopsie…?)  
Codladh ...-Sleep. (Okay, yes, it's Irish, but I wanted some variety in there…. :D )  
Só leigheas ... – Heal (Again, Irish…)  
Fuarú agus soothe – Cool and Soothe (Irish again…)  
draíocht... yn dod i ben eich gwaith ... Magic, cease your work (magic in Gaelic, but the rest in welsh)  
"Drochrath air…"-Damn it (Gaelic)


	2. Serkets and Ranting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunken Gwaine, attacks by dozens of Serkets and Merlin ranting at a Dragon. What more could you want?  
> Hopefully Gwaine's character wasn't too OOC...

Arthur groaned as he dismounted Turbolt, stretching out his aching muscles.  
After two days riding, most of the company were aching, but less so than normal thanks to the work of the magic users amongst them. They were also the reason they had made such good time, what with the lack of time wasted with setting up camp each night and then tearing it down in the morning. As it was, they would definitely reach the others within a couple of hours the following morning. He had wanted to press on, but the darkness and obvious danger of riding into an area so dangerously guarded had swayed his mind.  
As he settled down, Arthur watched the sorcerers, and sorceresses in the camp, as they went about setting up fires, wards and alerts, and grinned, ruefully to himself.  
If someone had told him, several months ago, that he would be riding into battle with a group of sorcerers, he would most likely have had them thrown in the stocks. Yet here he was, doing just that.  
His musings were cut short as Taren appeared beside him, handing him a bowl, filled with some kind of stew. He eyed it, before looking at Taren, eyebrows raised.  
She sighed.  
"Yeah, I know… But Leon insisted that he and some of the others helped, and this was the result…"  
Arthur took a mouthful, and shrugged.  
"Not as bad as last time… But where is Merlin when you need him?"  
"Knowing him, he's been spending the last two days lounging around telling stories and jokes at your expense…" She replied, grinning, and Arthur froze as he considered that.  
"Drochrath air…" he cursed, causing Taren to blink, shocked.  
"Was that… Did you just curse in the old tongue?"  
"Merlin's a bad influence… He's got all the knights doing it…" Arthur sounded slightly defensive, if not a little sheepish that he was being reprimanded by a woman a couple of years younger than him.  
He decided a topic change was necessary.   
"And, speaking of Merlin, I'm sure you're right. The idiot is most likely nice and cosy in a cave, telling jokes and stories and having a hell of a time…"  
_

Merlin yelped as he ducked another jet of light, before ducking and turning sideways, sending a bolt straight back at his pursuers. He had been running from them for almost twenty minutes, exchanging a flurry of bolts, and he was getting annoyed. It was dark, he could barely see properly and was being chased, by a bunch of obvious novices in the art of attacking someone, through a forest in the opposite direction to the caves.  
Surely he had given the others enough of a head start by now?  
As he heard screeching above him, he realised that whether it had been enough time or not, he couldn't distract them any longer.  
He slid to a halt, shouting at the wyverns above him, causing them to career away. He then threw up a shield, before ending a wave of magic at his pursuers.  
Several moments- and several blasts of magic- later, and the sorcerers, all members of The Brotherhood, were lying unconscious on the floor. Aside from one who had hit his head on a rock and now lay still.  
Merlin swept the threatening guilt away.  
He'd had no choice.  
Over the last day or so, the sorcerers had become more keen on seeking out the 'intruders' and eventually, a wyvern had got lucky, spotting Holly and Percival as they gathered food.  
Against all of his friends protests, Merlin had sent them on their way, directing them in the direction Arthur was sure to come from, himself heading in the opposite direction and drawing off any pursuers.  
Now that the threat had been dealt with- well, the current threat, anyhow- he was going to circle back and catch up with them. Hopefully as they came across the garrison from Camelot.  
But Merlin didn't get his hopes up. When had things ever gone to plan for him?  
He snorted, lightly. At this moment in time, Arthur was most likely laughing and joking about.  
Lucky prat.  
_

Gwaine grumbled under his breath as the small group traipsed through the forest. Though they all knew that they had don the sensible thing, knowing that Merlin was better off on his own in dealing with this one, it still didn't sit well with any of them.  
Especially Gwaine.  
At least the magic users in the group knew that Merlin could handle himself, and were not worried so much as frustrated.  
Percival and Owain new that Merlin was perfectly capable of looking after himself, but were still slightly worried, seeing as the group that had been sent after them was at least a dozen strong. Not to mention wyverns and god knows what else.  
Gwaine was just irritated full stop.  
He was sober, which was never a good thing, he was running away from a fight, which was an even worse thing, and, worst of all, he was leaving Merlin, the ridiculously powerful, bumbling idiot who was likely to trip over and spear himself on a twig, to fend for himself… Though, deep down, he knew his friend was perfectly capable of dealing with it, and was just trying to hide the guilt he felt.  
Needless to say, they were all anxious for his return, but, as night truly settled over the forest, they kept moving, knowing he would have no trouble tracing them and keen to reach the group from Camelot.  
After another three hours of walking, Aelfric's conjured orb of green light hovering above them, they were all starting to feel tired, and only the hope of catching Arthur and the others before they rose out the next morning was keeping them on their feet.  
It came as a relief, then, that after another half an hour, Holly was able to reach Taren in their minds, and alert them of their approach and the situation.  
Hence the horses that met them and their much faster arrival at the camp.  
Percival and Owain reported everything to Arthur, Holly and Aelfric reported to Taren and Gwaine sulked, one hand holding a water skin- given to him by a suspiciously acting Bedivere-that was obviously containing something other than water, his face showing his obvious irritation.  
Everyone couldn't help but worry about Merlin…  
Surely he should have arrived by now?

At that particular moment, Merlin was cursing, using English, the Dragon-tongue, The Old Tongue and words from a code that he and Will had created as kids.  
Hmm… Douchecanoe was something he would have to use with Arthur… Far too good to waste…  
This thought was cut off as he heard the sound of scrabbling behind him again, and quickened his pace  
Damn it, Serkets were fast… and very persistent.  
They'd caught his tracks about half an hour go and hadn't stopped chasing him since.  
Which, he reasoned, was ridiculous. Not only had they started chasing him a couple of hours away from their… well, army for want of a better word, but they would normally have given up long before now.  
He cursed again as the scratching grew louder, the creatures obviously enhanced further with magic, and sped up again, ignoring the burning stitch in his side and the pain in his chest from the constant running.  
He just hoped that he could reach the other before the giant scorpions behind him decided to go look for easier prey.  
It was almost lucky then, that when he finally realised he couldn't run any further, he was close enough to send a message to Taren, telling her to stay away.  
He was unlucky, however, if he had expected her to obey the order.  
She immediately told Arthur, and both of them, as well as several others, immediately head for where Merlin had been mind-casting from.  
As the got closer, they didn't need to rely on the tracking, so much as the huge screeches and crashes that were echoing through the forest.  
The lot of them, Taren, Arthur, Gwaine, Leon, Bedivere, Percival, Owain, Peredur, Aelfric, Holly and Garret- another sorcerer- stumbled to a halt as they slid over a small ridge and were faced by one of the most shocking sights they had ever seen.  
Merlin, obviously exhausted, but also obviously annoyed, was surrounded by around Twenty creatures that looked like Giant scorpions.  
"Serkets…" Garret murmured, and Arthur nodded. He recognised the creatures. Not from personal experience, but from books and one of the tales Merlin had told him.  
There was nothing more to be said as they watched Merlin, obviously not in need of any help, take on the creatures.  
He had his sword in one hand, seeing as the creatures had natural defences against magic and he had to be in close contact to use magic on them, but it was used as often as magic to bring one of the creatures down or to end one scuttling from the fight.  
Arthur watched, eyes wide, as Merlin ducked, weaved, leapt and otherwise manoeuvred through the crush of Serkets.  
Their tails barely came close, though Arthur suspected that that may be a little due to Merlin speeding up his own time a little, and whenever they did, the creature responsible could shortly be seen scuttling away from the fight, vanishing into the trees, not to return.  
It took several minutes, in which Merlin was watched, unknown by him, with awe by all of those there, but eventually the creatures were either dead, though that was only the case for three of them, or had completely disappeared into the forest.

Merlin stood there for a few seconds, apparently scanning the area, but obviously came to the conclusion that there was nothing there. Or rather, nothing dangerous, as he turned to the group, half amused, half irritated.  
"Thanks for the help…?"  
Gwaine snorted,  
"You looked like you were doing perfectly well on your own mate…"  
Merlin glared for all of one second before he dropped it, allowing a tired smile to split across his face.  
"Okay… But can you please get the others to stop staring at me like that? It's kinda weird…"  
"The whole situation is kinda weird…" Bedivere muttered, then gasped with the others as two Serkets flew from the trees, heading straight for Merlin. The young man spun, ducking one of their tails as it swung past him, and stabbing one through the chest.  
Unfortunately, the spasms of the creature sent the other into a panic, and, as Merlin rolled to avoid being crushed, one of the tails slashed into his side.  
He managed to blast the second away with magic before the burning started, but couldn't stay on his feet. Falling to the ground, the last thing he saw before he blacked out was Taren, running towards him.

It was only a few minutes late that he woke again, but the pain was so intense, he had to bite his lip to stop from crying out.  
It was also with great difficulty that he told Taren that he needed to call for Kilgarrah or Aithusa, and with even greater difficulty that he managed to do so.  
With that, and the realisation that it would take the dragons at least an hour to arrive, Merlin gratefully sank into darkness, leaving Arthur and the others with the task of carrying him back to the camp.  
Fortunately, there were no further attacks, and they got back to the camp in one piece.  
As Gwaine, who had been carrying Merlin, lay him down near one of the fires, they all finally noticed just how terrible Merlin looked.  
His clothes were torn, not terribly, but enough to make it obvious that he had been running through the forest and had been in a fight. What was visible of his arms, revealed that they were covered in small cuts and bruises, not to mention the small cuts that littered his jaw and left cheek, and his skin was feverish and pale… well, beneath blood and dirt at least.  
Though Taren said that these were predictable of a Serket sting, she also stated that it was not as bad as expected, most likely because of the increase in Merlins magic and its ability to protect him.  
She immediately got to work on the small cuts- the bruises starting to fade away, due to the excessive magic that Merlin's body was using to counteract the Serket poison- but gasped as she pulled back one of his sleeves to reveal a scar running down the inside of his arm.  
She turned slightly as Arthur crouched down beside her.  
"I'll never forgive myself for that…" he said, quietly, and she gave him a questioning look, causing Arthur to sigh before saying, "When I first found out he had magic I… I wasn't very… understanding."  
Taren looked back at the scar, then thought about the pain in the King's voice as he had said those words, and simply went back to work on the cuts.  
Half an hour later, Merlin's skin was whole again, the bruises nearly faded completely and his skin a slightly healthier colour. He would still need Kilgarrah's help to flush the poison completely, but he wasn't as helpless against its affects as the last time.  
It was for this reason that, as Gwaine took watch next to him so that the others could grab something to eat, he managed to open his eyes.  
"Gwaine…?"  
"Merlin!"  
"Oh gods, keep your voice down… I don't…don't want everyone rushing over and… asking me questions and… stuff…"  
At the obvious difficulty he was having with speaking, Gwaine hastened to reassure him.  
"Fine, fine… Shouldn't you be resting?"  
"Sleep doesn't help… Or rather, it may do, but It dulls my senses and I don't like it… my magic is too active healing me and I've given up on controlling the excess power… I'm just shoving it into the Aurora stone…"  
Gwaine grinned,  
"Aww, look. Magic man is going all magically informative on me…"  
"Gwaine…? Have you been drinking?"  
"Maybe a little…"  
"Was it Bedivere?"  
"Maybe…"  
"I swear I'm going to have words with him…"  
"Aww. Don't do that… Ruins my fun…"  
Merlin looked at the wide, terrible attempt at puppy eyes, and at the charming grin, and gave a weak snort.  
"You really think… that that's gonna work on me…?"  
"Maybe?"  
"You're saying 'maybe' a lot Gwaine…"  
"Must be the mead talking…"  
"Or that you are a terrible liar… What's up? You look terrible."  
"Oh, I look terrible? Look who's been stung by a giant bug!"  
"Well your face looks like a giant bug. So tell me, what's up?"  
At the obvious concern on Merlin's unnaturally pale face, Gwaine couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.  
"Wow. Here you are, having been poisoned by Serkets and god knows what, and you are asking me how I feel." He snorted, before continuing. "You wanna know? I feel useless… Gods, I left you to fend for yourself against a dozen sorcerers…"  
"It was the sensible thing to do." Merlin protested, defensively, and Gwaine snorted again.  
"Maybe, but it wasn't the right thing to do. God… I know you don't need us for most things Merlin-"  
"That's not true Gwaine…"  
"But," Gwaine continued, ignoring Merlins comment, "We should be there anyway. Moral support if nothing else. Heck, here I am, my best friend is looking the worst I've seen him in ages, and I'm burdening him with my own problems. I'm a sucky friend. A real sucky friend…"  
"Gwaine!" Merlin's voice was surprisingly firm, and he pushed himself up, propping himself on one of his elbows, even as Gwaine saw the blood rush from his face, "Listen to me. You are one of the best friends anyone could have. Not as good as me," he joked with a cheeky grin, "But pretty damn close." His voice turned serious again. "Yeah, so you left me to fight back there. If you hadn't, one of you could easily have been hurt."  
"So could you…"  
"Yes, but I have more of a chance of defending myself. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if you guys had been hurt. It was worth the risk to know that you were safe. It always will be worth the risk to me…"  
Gwaine glared at the ridiculously self-sacrificing idiot in front of him.  
"But it isn't to me. From now on, if we are ever in a situation like that again, I'm not leaving. You got that, ya scrawny git?"  
Merlin began to protest, but before he could say anything, a huge roar sounded and they both looked to where Kilgarrah skimmed above the trees.  
"Oi, Merlin!" He turned to look at Gwaine again, as the knight spoke up. "I'll make you a deal. If it's dead important that I leave, I will, but if we're ever in a situation like that, or anything where you are in the faintest sign of danger, I'm not leaving. You can argue all you like, but I'm sticking with it. And, in turn, you can stalk me whenever and wherever you like. Happy?"  
He held his hand out, and Merlin eyed it, exasperatedly, but then felt a grin split across his face, at the knowledge that he would be hard pressed to find friends better than his.  
He grasped Gwaine's hand, nodding.  
"Happy. In pain and all that, but happy none-the-less. Now, let go of me, you drunken idiot. The sooner I get to Kilgarrah the better…"  
Gwaine grinned, the seriousness of his last speech forgotten as he pulled Merlin to his feet.

It was a surprise, no, a complete shock, to everyone in the clearing when Merlin managed to stand on his own feet, and they were even more surprised when he refused the offers of support.  
Not that Gwaine let that stop him, as he wrapped a firm arm around Merlin's shoulders, muttering something about 'Idiots who just never seemed to get the idea…'  
Merlin was relieved, however, when they didn't have to walk that far. He didn't let it show, but the pain felt like it was eating away at him. He knew that Taren, Gwaine and Arthur were suspicious of how much pain he claimed he was in, but he didn't want to worry them.  
To be honest, he felt uncomfortable at all of the attention.  
Needless to say he was relieved when he finally reached Kilgarrah, but the relief quickly faded to a sigh as the Great Dragon started to lecture him.  
"Now, Merlin. Another run in with Serkets… Will you never learn? They are not to be trifled with, young warlock. Now, I have had to fly halfway across the kingdom in order to-"  
Merlin realised that he didn't want to her any more, and virtually growled an interruption.  
"Oi! In the past three days, I have jumped virtually the entire length of the kingdom, healed some pretty extensive injuries, broken mind control on wyverns, evaded constant patrols, dodged nests of wilddorean out on daily walks, fought over a dozen sorcerers who's only thought was to blast me into next week, run for hours on end through this godforsaken forest, nearly broke my ankle on a tree root- don't you dare laugh, Arthur- got scratched, bruised, cut, and eventually stung by a single damned Serket, after beating dozens of them who were under mind control with orders to hunt me down." Merlin took a breath, before continuing, his voice rising to a shout. "Now, I have had a hell of a night… no, a hell of a week... nope, scratch that, I have had a hell of a past few months, and I am not in the mood for a bloody lecture. Now, can you get this damned poison out of me or not?"  
The Great Dragon blinked slowly, before giving a small cough.  
"Of course Merlin."  
As he breathed onto the wound, Merlin felt the pain leech away, and couldn't help but sigh in relief. That's when he heard the sniggers. Turning, he glared at Gwaine and Arthur, who were both trying to stifle their laughter, and at the others, who were all either shocked or hiding smiles.  
"What?"  
Gwaine hiccupped before replying, his voice making his amusement obvious.  
"You just ranted at a dragon… A bloody huge, great dragon. And you ranted at it about how crap your life is. I knew you had guts Merlin, but this is bloody ridiculous…"  
It was Kilgarrah's turn to frown as he realised that he was the subject of the joke, and he took a step forward, swivelling his head so that he was eye to eye with Gwaine, who sobered up immediately.  
"Erm… Hi?"  
Kilgarrah squinted, then turned to Merlin,  
"And this is the Green Knight?"  
Merlin looked confused for a moment, until he remembered one of the les common prophesies he had heard, at which point he smiled widely,  
"I guess so… Worrying isn't it?"  
"Not as much as you may think Merlin…" The dragon focused on Gwaine again, who was looking, not worried, but almost amused by the proximity of the huge, scaly head. "I do not sense any nervousness caused by my being here, Sir Gwaine?"  
Gwaine shrugged.  
"Meh, it'd piss Merlin off if I got flattened by a giant foot. If only because… Actually, I have no idea why, but I know that it would piss the scrawny idiot off. So nope, I'm cool. Hey… Can I touch your scales? They're shiny…"  
Kilgarrah blinked again, before he started chuckling.  
"You truly are a Knight of Camelot… Bold, brash and you have, if not brains, at least brawn. I can understand why Merlin values your friendship, Green Knight…"  
"Green knight?"  
Kilgarrah didn't answer, but turned back to Merlin.  
"You have yet to visit Avalon, Young Warlock."  
Merlin shrugged, stifling a yawn and still reflexively stretching his arms, checking out his newly healed side.  
"Been kinda busy with the 'Brotherhood have amassed an army of some of the most dangerous creatures in the land' problem."  
"Still, I sense that you should go sooner rather than later Merlin…"  
"Like when?"  
"Tonight for instance…"  
"Right. How? You've already stated that you 'are not a horse' and even on horseback, it would take at least-"  
"On this occasion, I will gladly take you."

Merlin blinked, then sighed. Dragons were so…  
"You really are the most irritating, persistent…" he continued to grumble, quietly enough to not be overheard, but Kilgarrah seemed to get the general gist of it, and sent a puff of smoke flying at Merlin. It surrounded him for a few seconds, before he conjured a gust of wind to escape from it.  
"Was that necessary?" he demanded, and Kilgarrah chuckled again.  
"Well, it succeeded in getting your attention. That's what matters. Now listen. I feel that a trip to Avalon will be of help to you. Both with this and other problems that are starting to appear in your life…"  
"Other…? Never mind." Merlin sighed, before turning to Arthur. "Do you mind? I can probably be back by morning…?"  
Arthur shrugged smiling.  
"Look, I'm not going to argue with a dragon Merlin… We won't be moving out till the morning, and I'm sure you can catch up if we leave before you return."  
Merlin sighed, nodding.  
"Okay… When you put it like that…"  
Gwaine snorted,  
"When you put it like that, the dragon-sorry, Kilgarrah, isn't the one you should be afraid of Arthur. You just wait, you'll get back to Camelot and your rooms will be a bog within the week."  
Merlin raised an eyebrow… Gwaine didn't suspect him of that bog in his quarters a few weeks ago… did he?  
Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to fly to Avalon… after all, a vengeful, yet drunken Gwaine, was a dangerous creature to be around…  
He nodded to Kilgarrah, and the dragon extended his leg, leaving Merlin free to leap up, and climb onto his back settling on the ridge of his neck.  
Merlin rolled his eyes at the awed expressions on some of the knight's faces and shrugged,  
"Try not to get yourselves killed while I'm gone?"  
Before any of them could shout back a retort about how they were all perfectly capable of looking after themselves, Kilgarrah took flight, soaring into the skies. Within seconds, he was out of sight, and everyone was quiet for a few moments, until Erec whistled softly.  
"Half an hour ago, he was unconscious, now he's flying a dragon. Remind me to tell him that he is the most ridiculously… astonishing person I have ever met?"  
Percival nodded, "You can tell him when I do. I think this will be about the fourth… nope, fifth time I've said those words…"  
Arthur shared a grin with Taren as the knights began discussing what had happened, and she rolled her eyes, before heading off back into the trees.  
At the thought of the warm fires, against the night which had become increasingly cold, he called for the others, telling them to get their asses moving, and followed them back to the camp.  
He also felt sorry for Merlin… considering how much colder it would be in the air, but swept it aside. After all, he had defeated a dozen sorcerers and twice that many Serkets. He had ranted to a dragon, then rode said dragon off into the night.  
He could create fire with a simple word.  
He'd be fine… Of course he would.  
He was Merlin.


	3. On The Banks of Avalon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Visit to Freya, talks about love, and Shadowmancer gets itself an upgrade...   
> Just a usual conversation on the banks of Avalon then...

Merlin blinked, opening his eyes. Kilgarrah twisted his head,  
"I am sorry to wake you, Merlin, but we are approaching The Lake of Avalon."  
Merlin stifled a yawn and sat up properly. He had only been able to sleep for a couple of hours, but it would have to do. His fatigue slowly morphed into eagerness and anticipation as he realised he would shortly be seeing Freya.  
It had been far too long…  
_

Ten minutes later, and Merlin stood on the bank of the Lake of Avalon, alone as Kilgarrah had flown away, stating that this was something Merlin needed to do alone.  
It was silent for a few moments, aside from the faint whispers in the wind and the quiet sounds of the night. Merlin felt his fatigue, his aches and pains fade away as the magic of the place filled him.  
He took a deep breath, and knelt down net to the water's edge, placing a hand into the water.  
"Freya…?"  
His voice was barely a whisper, but the entire place seemed to react to it, seeming to become more alive. Thrumming with energy.  
He got to his feet, looking around him, to where the trees seemed to come alive, where the leaves on the ground swirled, where the flowers, that wouldn't normally be seen until the dawn started to bloom, and he smiled, turning back to the lake.  
"I've missed that smile…"  
Merlin froze at the voice, then span around, and froze again at what he saw.  
She hadn't changed. Her eye were still that dark, welcoming brown, her hair still slightly tangled and tumbling around her shoulders, and her smile still offering warmth. She was even wearing the same, tattered red dress that Merlin had taken for her.  
"Freya…?"  
"It's good to see you again, Merlin…"  
Merlin reached out, running her hair through his fingers, and realised that he could touch her. Before he could stop himself, he had pulled her into a hug, which she was quick to return.  
They stayed that way for some time, until Freya gently pulled away, and looked into his eyes.  
"We have much to talk about, Merlin… And little time with which to do so."  
Merlin nodded, and followed her lead, sitting down on the water's edge.

The first thing Freya did was to reach out for the sword that Merlin had at his waist.  
"I remember this sword…" she said, quietly, running her fingers along the hilt, and Merlin blinked, realising what she meant.  
It had used to be Arthurs… so, when he had killed the Bastet… Killed Freya… It took all of his willpower not to throw it into the lake.  
"I… I hadn't thought of that…"  
"It doesn't matter, Merlin." She reassured him, voice gentle, and pulled it from its sheath. "One of the reasons I called to you was because whist you may be good with a sword, you need a weapon which is more suited to having power such as yours…"  
"So I should carry round that huge staff all the time?" Merlin asked, joking, and Freya smiled, shaking her head.  
"No… But any sword you carry should be worthy of it. Should be attuned to you as Excalibur is to Arthur. Should be able to work with your magic… be a weapon that can wield it."  
"How?"  
"The waters of Avalon have many mysteries Merlin. Some even I have yet to fathom. But perfect attunement is not a task that its magic will find difficult."

At her instruction, Merlin grasped the sword, took the Aurora stone, wrapping the chain around the hilt, and walked into the lake, up to his waist. To his surprise, the water was not cold, but warm.  
Freya laid her hand on his, above the hilt of the sword, and closed her eyes. Immediately, water began trickling upwards, wrapping around their hands, and down the length of the sword.  
Merlin gazed entranced, as it circled and morphed into a web of shimmering light, and rested on the sword.  
Then he felt a small tug at him, and, through him, the Aurora stone, and he accepted it, letting a tickle of magic flow to the sword.  
After a few minutes, the trickle of magic ceased, and the crystal glowed, getting to a point where it was bright enough to make Merlin have to look away. He looked back, however, at the slight crack he heard, and he saw a tiny shard of the crystal separate and hover over the sword. It hung there for a few moments before water cocooned it and it seemed to melt, circling the sword and seeming to be absorbed by the blade.  
At that, the light faded and the water sank back into the lake, all of the magic of the moment before having faded into the crystal blue waters.  
Merlin backed out of the lake, and sat on one of the rocks on the bank, just as Freya did. He looked at the sword, and saw that it seemed to be brighter somehow, and seemed to quiver with its own energy.  
"Freya? What…?"  
"It's attuned to you now Merlin. The sword and the crystal both. No-one will be able to take magic from the store inside the crystal unless they do it through you, and you are willing. And the sword? It can be used by other people, of course it can, but it is, ultimately, attuned to you. The way it seems to be alive? It is only the effect of your contact with it, of your magic's contact with it. If I were to take it-" she did so, sliding it from his hand, and causing it to dull down slightly, and cease its illusion of thrumming with life, "It would be no more than a normal sword in my hands. No more than an average sword in anyone's hand but yours, aside from the fact that, if you reach for it with magic, you can protect it from damage, and you could cause it to cease obeying the movements of anyone wielding it."  
She smiled, handing it back, and Merlin watched as it seemed to come alive again.  
He sheathed the sword after a few moments, and the glow dimmed somewhat, if not entirely.  
He turned back to Freya, who smiled at him.  
"Makes a nice match to the other blade you have… It seems to radiate its own magic…"  
Merlin looked to the dagger at his waist, and grinned,  
"Forged in a dragon's breath. Like Excalibur…"  
"And a weapon worthy of you, Merlin."

They were silent for a few moments, until Merlin spoke up again.  
"You said that there were other reasons you called me here?"  
Freya nodded, sighing.  
"Yes… First, a warning. The High Priestess, Morgana. The Brotherhood that works in her name may not realise that she is still alive, but if they should, if any one of them should, then Albion will be at risk. You have to make sure that they never discover that she is alive, or, if that should happen, they should not find where she is. Do you understand, Merlin?"  
"Yes." He looked slightly confused, "But why the worry? They have no suspicions as to the fact that she is still alive…?"  
"I don't know Merlin. The Old Religion has more mysteries than the waters of Avalon... But that is not all I wanted to warn you about. There will come a time, in the future, where you will have to decide between trusting one you believe to be a friend and one you believe to have been turned against you and Camelot. When that day comes, trust your instincts…"  
"Betrayed… But Freya, I…"  
"I'm sorry Merlin. I do not know any more than that. When that day should come, just trust your instincts, not what many seem to know to be true. You have a good heart Merlin, it will not steer you wrong."  
Merlin looked about to say something else, but seemed to decide against it, closing his mouth and nodding, deciding to think that over at a later time.  
"And, speaking of you having a good heart Merlin," Freya continued, "You need to let yourself love again…"  
Merlin jumped at that, turning to face her.  
"Love again? But Freya… I love you…"  
"I know Merlin. And I you, but this cannot be. I am not truly a part of this world any longer… Not in a way that is fair to you. Merlin, listen to me-" she picked up one of his hands between hers and looked him in the eyes, "Your heart is too full of love for you not to give it to someone… I know how we feel, but it is not enough for you… Once, it may have been, but…" A tear slid down her cheek, as she finished. "Merlin, life is too fleeting for doubts and hesitations. I know that there is one you could love, if you would only let yourself. You refuse to let anyone into that part of your heart. And, slowly, it will grow colder. You know I cannot give you what you need, Merlin. I can give you love, but not affection, not happiness or joy. You need to let someone else in."  
"But what If I don't want to, Freya?" Merlin's voice shook with unshed tears, "What If I don't want to risk losing you…?"  
"You have, yet you never will, Merlin. I am not here, yet I will always be here… I will never leave you. But it hurts to see you so alone… Knowing that it is because of me that it is so. If you truly love me, you will let someone else in… You can never truly stop loving someone, but you can learn to love another just as much. Let yourself do that Merlin… Please…"  
"Freya… I don't know if I can do that…"  
Freya pulled him into an embrace, letting her tears fall, and feeling the trembling in Merlin's shoulders.  
"I know you can. And I need you to do that, because it hurts to see you like this. Someone like you needs someone you can love. Someone who can love you back just as much. Someone who isn't living in a state of eternal twilight… Please Merlin… Let it go?"  
He was silent for a few moments, before he pulled back, looking into her eyes.  
"I'm not going to be able to stop loving you Freya…"  
"Nor I you, Merlin, but you can love again. You're refusing to see that you are already starting to."  
"Freya…" His voice was filled with pain, and he was obviously wrestling with something.  
"Let it go Merlin. Let it out…"

Before either of them knew it, their lips were pressed together, arms wrapped around each other.  
A couple of moments later, they simultaneously broke apart.  
Merlin looked at her, biting his bottom lip,  
"How could it be fair to her Freya?"  
"Because you will love her. And it will be in the present. Not the past."  
"How do I know I can?"  
"We both know you can…"  
Merlin smiled faintly at that, and sighed,  
"Even if there is always a small part of me, closeted away for you?"  
"Seeing as there is a small part of her closeted away for someone else… You will work it out Merlin. And be better for it… Now you need to go. It's nearly dawn…"  
Merlin looked to the sky and realised that it was lighter than he had realised. He'd be hard pressed to get back before the others moved out. He also realised that he had a lighter heart than when he had arrived.  
He nodded, and smiled.  
"Thank you Freya…"  
She shook her head, pulling him into a hug,  
"None needed. It gave me the chance to see you again…"  
Merlin smiled at the familiarity of the words, and, on a whim, bent down to pick a small flower. He closed it in his hands, and, with a whisper, opened them to reveal a small strawberry on the palm of his hand.  
He handed it to Freya, who gave him a smile.

Merlin span as he heard the sound of wings, and saw Kilgarrah land just out of sight just as the dragon sent him a message.  
"If you are done, Young Warlock, It is my belief that we had best be heading back… That army will not be destroying itself…"  
"One moment Kilgarrah…"  
He turned back, only to see that Freya had vanished, then he heard a voice on the wind.  
"Go Merlin… It's time…"  
He smiled at the air, and nodded,  
"Goodbye Freya…"  
"Never goodbye… Just, until the next time…"  
"I can't wait…"  
A faint laugh echoed in the air before fading away, and Merlin took a deep breath, looking out over the lake once more before turning and running through the trees towards Kilgarrah.  
Hopping onto the dragons back, he sighed, resting his head on his hands.  
"Let's go defeat another army then…"

The Great Dragon took off, with a thoughtful Warlock on his back, thinking thoughts of destiny, fate and magic that would have most people questioning their own sanity.  
Merlin snorted at the thought. He knew exactly what the others would say to that…  
He could almost hear Arthur's condescending tone now…  
Thoughts of his friends faded away as he focused on Freya's words, on Freya herself, and he started to do as she had asked.  
It hurt, but he started to let himself think…  
And he started to come to a conclusion which gave him more questions than answers…


	4. Dragon Acrobatics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun Kilgarrah, Infiltration, A New Ally, Bets, Gambling and a very pissed off Merlin... Oh, and lot's of Banter. So nothing new there then.

"Sire?"  
Arthur sighed, and turned to face the speaker.  
"Leon?"  
"We have to move out Sire… Merlin will catch up."  
Sighing again, Arthur nodded. Leon was right. He gave the order to move out and mounted Turbolt, assuming his place at the front of the column. As he did so, he turned to Leon again.  
"He's been away for some time Leon…"  
"Yes. But he'll be fine. For one thing, he is with a Dragon. How many bandits do you know who can kill one of those? Plus there's the fact that he's Merlin."  
The king felt himself smile at that,  
"I guess you're right… It's just that he looked… bad. Before the dragon healed him I mean… I know he's strong but he's not invincible."  
Leon nodded,  
"I know Sire, but he's ben in far worse states before and pulled through fine. I think it's something we're all going to have to get used to."  
Arthur nodded, and was silent for a while after that, thinking a lot of things through.  
Little did he know that the other side of his coin was doing the exact same thing.  
_

As Kilgarrah flew over the forest, Merlin reached out, and realised that the others were moving.  
He sighed as he realised that he would soon be thrown back into reality.  
Kilgarrah, as if sensing his mood, looked over his shoulder.  
"I am not one for meaningless meandering, young warlock, but I sense your heart and mind are troubled… I often find it is easier to think in the clouds. If you wish, I can fly over the column? There is little happening and little will happen until the men reach the plains…"  
Merlin looked surprised by Kilgarrah's offer, and more than a little touched.  
"Thank you. I'd really appreciate it… I think I need some space to think."  
"We are alone in the skies Merlin! Take all the space you need!"  
The great dragon gave a chuckle, and then dived down, before turning up just as they reached the tops of the trees. He spiralled upwards a few times, before levelling out again, giving a roar.  
He looked back at Merlin, a twinkle in his golden eyes.  
"It does not do for one to live in an eternal state of thought Merlin. And how could you not love the freedom that comes with the ability to soar through the skies."

Arthur and the rest of the men looked up as they caught a glint of light reflected in the skies, and watched, awed, as Kilgarrah dove towards the forest, before pulling out, spiralling and roaring.  
"Look at that," Gwaine said, sighing, "He gets to have a blast, flying around on a bloody dragon, whilst we're plodding along on these nags…"  
His horse bucked, and he patted her down,  
"Hey girl, I didn't mean it… "  
Arthur grinned as he replied.  
"Well, I guess being a Dragonlord has its perks…"  
"Such as being able to control two of the most powerful creatures in the five kingdoms?" Bedivere said, and Peredur grinned.  
"That's a hell of a perk…"  
They were silent for a few minutes as their eyes flickered between the path in front of them and the lounging dragon above them.  
After a while, Gwaine called for them all to look up, and Arthur, like the others, watched as they saw, for the first time, a dragon having fun.

Merlin felt all his doubts drift away as they flew, gently, through the skies.  
He let everything sort itself out inside his mind, coming to several decisions, and then let himself relax. As he did so, a thought came to him and he grinned, tapping Kilgarrah on the back of the head.  
"Hey… When was the last time you did anything fun?"  
The dragon gazed at him, half amused, half exasperated.  
"Merlin, I rarely have time for fun…"  
"Aww… Come on, let's do something just for the hell of it…"  
"Like what young Warlock?"  
"Oh… I dunno, let's see how high you can fly, then spiral down towards the ground in free-fall before you pull out of the dive rather spectacularly."  
Kilgarrah blinked once, then chucked.  
"You know, young warlock, I believe that may be fun… Hold on!"  
With that, the great dragon changed course, rising into the air, getting higher and higher.  
Eventually, it got to the point where Merlin found it slightly hard to breathe, and he realised that the air was moist. But in a refreshing way.  
They savoured the moment for a few seconds, before Kilgarrah twisted his head around.  
"Are you ready Merlin?"  
"As ready as you are my friend," he replied, holding tighter to Kilgarrah's shoulders, even though he was held on by magic.  
With those words, the dragon did a backflip in the air, clapped his wings to his sides and they fell, straight downwards, spinning slowly.  
They fell for what seemed like ages, though Merlin realised that it wasn't even minute, before Kilgarrah's wings snapped out, and they levelled, briefly skimming the tops of the tree and sending leaves cascading down on the column riding below.  
Not pausing to acknowledge the exclamations, Kilgarrah span a few times, corkscrewing through the air, before doing a three loops and levelling out. He gave a huge laugh, which was obvious even through the roaring, which echoed through the skies as he started flying straight again.  
After a few seconds, he craned his neck to look over his shoulder again, to see his Dragonlord laughing loudly, looking less troubled that Kilgarrah had seen in quite some time.  
"That," the young man said, voice still ringing with laughter and a sense of freedom and happiness, "Was incredible! Can we go again?"  
Kilgarrah chuckled, and shook his head slightly.  
"I'm sorry, Merlin, but my wings are not cut out for many dives such as that… It was incredibly fun to do though… we shall have to do that again some time."  
Merlin grinned, party from happiness and the thrill of it, but partly because he now knew that Kilgarrah could be… Fun!  
"Definitely," he assured the great dragon, and clambered forwards, to the base of Kilgarrah's skull, and use magic to anchor himself as he stood up, feet securely in one of the ridges on the dragons neck, and let the wind blow round him, whipping his hair back from his face and making his clothes stream back around him.  
He hadn't felt this exhilarated in quite a while… And he intended to enjoy every minute.  
_

Arthur watched, amidst gasps and startled laughter, as the dragon, Merlin obviously having talked him into it, did acrobatics in the air, then watched amidst gasps and slightly panicked comments as Merlin got to his feet, and stood upright.  
Arthur wasn't worried. Merlin knew what he was doing.  
And he deserved the chance to have a little fun. God knows he hadn't had much of a chance lately. And if this was his idea of fun, doing incredibly dangerous acrobatics in the air with a huge dragon, then, let's face it, he was obviously very bored in Camelot.  
The knights all seemed to be thinking the same thing, and Gwaine spoke up.  
"Now I know why he doesn't drink. Obviously holds no appeal to him… Heck, can he even get drunk?"  
Bedivere grinned,  
"You can try Gwaine, but it won't work. Merlin isn't like that."  
"Ten gold coins say I can get him drunk before… Before the treaty talks next month."  
Peredur leant forwards, "I'll take that bet…"  
Arthur rolled his eye as the two shook hands, grinning ruefully. God help Camelot if Gwaine succeeded. A drunken Merlin? He'd rather face the army of deadly creatures…  
Then again, considering Merlin had talked a dragon into- Gods, was Kilgarrah making loop-the-loops in the air, whilst corkscrewing?- doing whatever the hell the dragon was doing, then the whole army of creatures thing really didn't seem that bad.  
Of course, that's when they finally created the hill, and Arthur surveyed the scene on the plains, at least another half an hour away, but clear as day over the trees below them.  
Hundreds of creatures were roaming the area, obviously penned up, and the amount of sorcerers that would be needed to keep them all under control…  
Okay then, maybe it was that bad…

He dragged his attention away as Kilgarrah landed and Merlin slid from his back, hair windswept and more of a mess than usual, clothes still tattered but apparently much cleaner, and a much lighter expression on his face than Arthur had seen in months. He hadn't even realised that Merlin had been weighed down with something, aside from the obvious of course, and resolved to keep a closer eye on his friend from now on.  
Arthur realised that Merlin was speaking to Kilgarrah, and grinned as he heard what the young man said.  
"So… Definitely doing that again then?"  
"Most definitely Merlin."  
"Okay… Can you do a recon for us over the plain? I want to know the numbers we are dealing with more precision."  
"Of course."  
With that, the dragon flapped his wings and took off into the air, towards the plains.  
Merlin turned back to face them, and seemed confused by the wide smiles, awed faces and wide eyes.  
"What…?"

After Merlin had clambered onto Radala, Taren having insisted that the eager young horse be reunited with its master, they took great pains to explain that whatever may seem normal to him, doing acrobatics with a dragon was, most assuredly, not normal to them.  
Hence Merlin's laughter, and the indignant expression on Gwaine's face as Merlin said that Gwaine being sober wasn't normal either, so it was a day full of abnormalities.  
Kilgarrah returned five minutes later, with information that caused the smile on Merlin's face to slip into an expression of anger and consideration.  
Arthur knew him well enough to know that the anger was at the knowledge of how the Brotherhood were abusing magic and controlling the creatures, and that the consideration was how to go about doing his with minimal damage on their part.  
Hence Arthur's reasoning behind not agreeing with a full, stealth attack.  
Not only was it dangerous, but Merlin would not appreciate the plan to kill so many creatures… no matter how dangerous. Arthur saw Merlin shot him a grateful smile, obviously aware of what the king was doing and why, and spoke up.  
"An attack like that would be too dangerous and too much could go wrong. The best thing we could do is figure out how they are controlling the creatures, destroy it, then get the hell out of the way as the creatures stampede, vanishing into the forest never to be seen again. Then we deal with the Brotherhood."  
The men all looked between them, looks ranging from 'why didn't we think of that?' to 'I hate it when he's right all the time…'  
Arthur grinned,  
"Merlin, do you have any idea how they are controlling them?"  
"Some kind of mental control, held in place by an anchor. Something that keeps the enchantment in place, whilst feeding off of the sorcerers powering it. It would most likely have to be small though, considering that it would have to be near the caster, and would most likely have some sort of crystal on it, to regulate the power and make it safer for the wearer. We need to find out what it is…"  
He grinned at the knights, as they started to realise where this was going,  
"And that," he finished, "Is where your amazing skills with regards to infiltration come in…"  
_

An hour later, and Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine, Bedivere, Leon, Percival, Owain and Daniel were creeping through the pens of creatures.  
Merlin had put a sort of shield around them, so people could only see them if they were looking for them, but didn't want to run the risk of his magic being detected so hadn't put up a stronger shield to hide their actual presence. Hence the creatures reacting whenever they walked past any.  
Merlin, for his part, was silent, obviously furious at the way the Brotherhood were misusing their magic, and the others had decided that it would be best to let him keep to himself.  
The rest of them spoke quietly, and irregularly, to alert the others of any approaching sorcerers, or, Merlin noted, people with no magic whatsoever.  
Bloody mercenaries, Arthur cursed, as evidence of the sell-swords numbers became evident, and he realised that they would have a fight on their hands.  
Then a thought struck him, and he caught up to Merlin, tapping him on the shoulder.  
"How are the Brotherhood funding these things… Sell-swords don't come cheap, and they have close to a hundred…"  
Merlin didn't turn as he replied, still scanning the area,  
"Before Lot took over Cenred's Kingdom, her and Morgause had been sure to filter away much of the kingdoms wealth and hide it. I'm sure that when Morgana vanished, the Brotherhood seized control of everything she left. If my guess is right, considering the trouble's Lot has now, Morgana definitely had a lot. Which is why I'm wondering why she lived in a small hut in the forest… Unless she didn't know, and this group have sprung up from Morgause's orders. Just using Morgana's name as it means more to Camelot. It would explain a lot I guess…"  
Arthur shook his head, bewildered.  
"How do you..? Never mind, You've put a lot of thought into this…?"  
"I don't spend what little free time I have doing nothing, Arthur. Aside from the projects I'm doing, I'm trying to piece together just how this Brotherhood formed. I may have to call in some help when I get back to- Stop!"  
They all fell still and silent as a small group of sell-swords passed them, laughing and seeming to enjoy the sight of the animals penned up. One even throwing a huge rock at one of the Cockatrice.  
Arthur laid a hand on Merlin's shoulder, silently asking him to stay quiet, and he felt the younger man tremble before going still.  
A few moments later, the men were out of sight and they were on their way again.  
Merlin's entire posture radiated anger and determination, as he strode through the pens.  
They ran into several more groups of men before something piqued their interest. Or rather, sent them all into a run towards a small building.  
_

The scream sent shivers through Merlin, who wasted no time in running for the sound, the others hot on his heels.  
He noticed the door to the building was bolted, and didn't think twice about blasting it open, just as a mental scream came through. Not focused on anywhere in particular, just an explosion of pain.  
From the gasps, he deduced that the others had heard something too.  
He threw up a ball of light as they entered the dark building, to find themselves in a short corridor with steps leading down. Merlin immediately started running down, the men following without hesitation, Bedivere and Percival only staying behind as Leon's instruction.  
Following the cries of pain was sickeningly easy, and Merlin ran through a doorway at the bottom of the staircase revealing a room that could only be described as a torture chamber.  
They crept inside just in time to hear the reason behind the torture, and Merlin fell cold.  
"Tell me!" this was punctuated with a slash from a dagger and a cry of pain resulted, "Emrys must have a weakness! You druids know!" Two more slashes and a scream as a blast of dark red, pulsing light surrounded his body, sinking in.  
"No! Never!"  
A hooded figure took a step back from the young man chained in front of him, and Merlin felt his anger break the walls he had put in place and begin flooding him as he took in the mess of the man.  
The only clothing on him were in tatters, and his chest and arms were clearly visible, covered in cuts, bruises, gashes, and black blotches which were evidence of dark magic.  
His back was dripping blood from where he had been whipped, and he hung forward, suspended form the wall with chains, his face was covered in cuts and bruises, one eye swollen shut and his lip split open.  
The druid tattoo on his wrist had been slashed at, the knife having followed the twisting design, and blood dripped from the man's fingers.  
He couldn't have been more than nineteen.  
Arthur saw Merlin tense, and motioned the others back, placing a hand on his friends trembling shoulder, and having to hide a flinch at the anger in the young man's eyes.  
"He's all yours…"  
Merlin nodded, and Arthur took a step back, just as the hooded figure realised he wasn't alone.

The figure span, his hood dropping and revealing a familiar face, and gave a savage gin at the sight of Merlin.  
"So, Emrys…" Thane said, voice bridled with a kind of triumph, "I see you've decided to joi-"  
The rest of his sentence was cut short as he collided with a wall.  
Immediately, three other sorcerers in the room sent blast of magic at Merlin, but he didn't even raise a hand. The attacks dissipated harmlessly, and Merlin sent a wave of his own, knocking them all back into the wall, and sending them crumpling to the floor.  
He took a couple of seconds to make sure that there was no-one else there, before running to the druid, who was staring at him, relief and joy evident on his marred face.  
Merlin snapped the chains with magic, and gently lowered the man to the floor, assessing his wounds.  
It wasn't good.  
"Emrys… I knew y-you would come. The creatures… the c-control is the bracelet on… on Thane's wrist…"  
"You're one of Aglain's people… the ones who infiltrated the Brotherhood…"  
"Yes…" the man gave a cry of pain as he twisted slightly, and gasped out the rest of his reply.  
"Someone found a letter… Thane decided to m-make an example of-of me... discourage any others who-who might 'defect'…" He gave a small laugh, which was cut off by a groan of pain, and Merlin lowered him to the floor.  
"Okay, keep still. I'm going to heal your injuries…"  
"But you n-need to go and…"  
"I'm not leaving you down here. Okay?"  
The young man seemed to see the determination in Merlin's eyes and nodded, as much as he could manage anyway.  
"Okay…"  
Merlin quickly turned to Arthur,  
"Don't distract me unless it's urgent. It'll take a lot of concentration to heal him…"  
Arthur nodded,  
"Just do what you have to…"  
Merlin nodded and turned back, deciding to start on the dark magic infecting the man's body, making it easier to heal him. But it was going to hurt.  
"Okay, I'm going to start on the dark magic first… But it may hurt a bit, okay? But you need to trust me, and not use your own magic… no matter how much your instincts tell you to…"  
The man nodded,  
"I trust you…"  
"What's your name, by the way?"  
"Ash…"  
"Okay Ash, now if it becomes unbearable, just tap my mind and Ill ease off for a moment, okay?"  
"Okay…"  
Merlin took a breath and began.

Reaching for the curses and the strands of magic woven through the druids body, Merlin began the slow process of destroying the dark magic.  
He was forced to stop twice, at the pained groans coming from Ash, but eventually managed to completely eradicate the clinging web of the curse and started on the other injuries.  
First, the whip lashes on his back.  
Merlin counted twelve, and bit back a literal curse of his own as he healed them, leaving them as white strips of mending skin. Next the deeper gashes.  
All-in-all, it took half an hour for him to heal the young druid, including the short time he spent easing the pain from the extensive bruising, and mending three fractured ribs that he had not noticed before.  
As he finished, he pulled back with his magic, but left a thin coating around the young druid, which eased his pain a little.  
Ash, now sitting against the wall, examined his, now healed, body and stared at Merlin, gratitude exuding from him, but Merlin shook his head before he could speak.  
"Don't thank me. I only wish I had got here sooner or been able to do more… As it is, I'm going to send you back to our main group with a couple of the knights. We have healers there, who can make sure I didn't miss anything. I'm so sorry you had to go through that… Especially for my sake."  
"It was an honour to serve in your name, Emrys… And the hopes for Avalon make it worth the pain…"  
"Still, it was one of the bravest things I've ever seen… Now come on," Merlin helped the young man to his feet, resolving to see that he got to the others as quickly as possible. "Let's go get you cleaned up, eh?"  
Gently manoeuvring the young man to his feet, he helped him across the room to the others, and asked Leon to get Percival.  
"We need to get Ash back to the others. Then one of the others can make sure I haven't missed anything…"  
Merlin turned back to where Thane had fallen, but realised that the man was gone.  
Arthur sighed,  
"He got up and vanished in less than a second… There was nothing we could do…"  
"It's fine… I should have kept watch for-"  
"Don't you dare. Damn it, you can't do everything Merlin, so stop beating yourself up about it."  
Merlin raised an eyebrow at the King, who was obviously pissed off, and glared.  
"Let's just agree to disagree and get moving…"  
"Gods, you are so infuriating!"  
"I learnt from the best Sire…"  
Arthur caught on that Merlin was referencing him and glared at the scrawny idiot.  
"This discussion isn't over."  
"Really? Because we seem to be dropping it. I'd have thought that-"  
"Merlin!"  
"Shutting up."  
The two head out the door, following Percival, who was carrying Ash, who was complaining that he was perfectly capable of walking on his own, and Arthur rolled his eyes as he heard the young druids protests.  
"Great. It's another version of you…" He said to Merlin, who grinned.  
"What can I say? Obviously, I'm such an inspiring role-model for-"  
"Then we are all doomed. Let's just go you big-headed idiot."  
"Oh, I'm big-headed? That's rich coming from you…"  
The knights watched them leave, bickering away as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and they all shook there heads. Though, they all reasoned, all things considered, this was likely just a normal excursion for the pair of them.  
Bedivere grinned, turning to Daniel.  
"Only one surprise left to go…"  
Gwaine snorted as he recalled their bet. That Merlin could surprise them at least three times today, and grinned, punching Daniel lightly on the shoulder.  
"I bet your regretting that one, eh Dan?"  
"Oh, come on. The dragon acrobatics, fair enough. But he only threw a guy into a wall. That's not surprising."  
"But he did it without a single wisecrack. Heck, he didn't even say a word. Just splat." Bedivere argued, and Daniel sighed.  
"Fine. But I'll class it as a mini-surprise."  
"Mini-surprise?"  
"Yup. So we still need two surprises from Merlin."  
Bedivere looked about to argue, but then changed his mind, grinning instead.  
"Fine… I'm still gonna win though."

Ten minutes later, and Percival and Owain had vanished, splitting off to take Ash back to the main column. The rest of them had continued on towards the centre of the area, towards where they had located the command centre of the whole operation, and now crouched behind a wagon of rocks.  
The security was nothing more than pitiful, even when Thane seemed to have raised the alarm and everyone was rushing around armed to the teeth with weapons.  
Merlin and Arthur had had to comment on the ridiculous excuse for an ordered camp, and it had resulted in a heated debate about the idea of patrols and ordered camps and security being rather pointless, seeing as those who should have been protected were extremely powerful sorcerers.  
Merlin had long since dropped out of the conversation, and was now avidly scanning, both with magic and his eyes for Thane, and the anchor to the control. If he could get that, and destroy it, the creatures would stampede, and they could move in to clear up the sell-swords and remaining sorcerers.  
It was a good enough plan… Until they saw Thane guarded by two Serkets, a cockatrice and four wyverns.  
Merlin and Arthur sighed, simultaneously, rolling their eyes at each other.  
This was going to be another one of those days…


	5. Stampede

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its finally over with the stealth, and they realize that it is high tie they actually move on to defeating the creatures... Only one thing for it then... Stampede!

Arthur held up his hand, and immediately saw Merlin raise his in response, across the other side of the clearing between the tents.  
The plan was simple.  
Merlin would distract the creatures and deal with the magic users, and Arthur and the others would on the sell-swords.  
Simple.  
So Arthur had no doubt it would go wrong. Merlin, meeting his eyes, grinned, obviously thinking the same thing. Arthur sighed, shaking his head, then brought his hand down, the gesture to go.  
Merlin burst from the pile of wood he'd been crouched behind, and blasted at Thane.  
Immediately, the creatures and the sorcerers focused on him.  
Arthur, even knowing Merlin's capabilities, had to blink a few times as he saw him throw up a shield, block all of the magical attacks, chanted in the dragon tongue, sending the wyverns flying away, and draw his sword, engaging the attacking Serkets and cockatrice. All in a matter of seconds.  
He shook himself out of it, and gestured to the others, sending them all running forward.  
They all immediately had their hands full with the sell-swords that surged forward, and Arthur let his instincts take over, slashing and ducking before he could full focus on the threats.  
He caught glimpses of the others, and fought back to back with Gwaine and Leon a couple of times.  
He also caught glimpses of Merlin, wresting with creatures and sorcerers alike.  
Using his sword in a way Arthur had never seen before. Heck, he realised that Merlin could easily match the knights… probably give him a fair fight too.  
He could tell that the others had noticed as well as he went back to back with Leon again, who said, between breaths,  
"Merlin's really got… good with that thing…"  
"Tell me about it… duck!"  
Leon ducked and Arthur slashed at his opponent, whilst Leon stabbed another in the gut.  
It was after a few more bows that Arthur realised that their attackers were thinning out. He was just getting hopeful when a group of men, obviously sorcerers from the robes they were wearing, burst into the fray, blasting at them.  
It was at that moment that Arthur realised he would never criticise Merlin's training methods again. It was instinctual to duck the blasts whilst fighting the other men, meaning it wasn't long before he found himself standing alone with his knights, the sell-swords either dead or retreating.  
He was just sighing in relief when instinct kicked in and he ducked, rolling to the side as a stream of magic was thrown at him.  
Arthur glanced to Merlin, and saw that he had his hands full with another group of sorcerers, including Thane, and was in no state to help them anytime soon.  
Okay then, it would have to be the hard way…  
A few minutes later, having spent the entire time deflecting, ducking and dodging spells and blasts and balls of light, Arthur finally realised that no-one was blasting at him anymore and straightened up, scanning the area and realising that the rest of the knight were okay, even if Gwaine had a huge bruise forming on his jaw. Then he looked for Merlin and cursed as all of the sorcerers turned to focus on him.  
_

Merlin grinned at Arthur, as he raised his hand in acknowledgement, and saw his friend sigh before giving the signal. He reacted immediately, leaping forward and blasting at Thane.  
Throwing up a shield, he deflected all the shots aimed back at him and cried out in the dragon tongue. He was rewarded by the wyverns flying off, but had no time to revel in the small victory as he was forced to draw his sword and defend himself from the Serkets and the cockatrice that had reached him.  
The next few minutes were spent with him using a mixture of magic and his, now seeming to be an extension of his arm, sword to attack and defend against the sorcerers, creatures and the odd sell-sword that was stupid enough to think it a good idea to attack him. As well as him keeping an eye on the others with both his magical and normal senses.  
Eventually, he realised that the others only had the sorcerers to deal with and were having no trouble with it.  
He stifled a sigh as he blasted at Thane again. It was not fair…  
Still, as much as he was rather enjoying seeing them have a real work-out, he still took the chance to help them out when it arrived.  
In a lull between the shots aimed at him, both due to the lack of sorcerers now around to deliver them, and the fact that a lot were taking longer to recover after each attack, he paused to take a breath.  
Hence his ability to turn and blast at the other sorcerers that were attacking his friends.  
Problem was, they were now focused on him. Merlin sighed as he fought off a renewed wave of magical assaults.

It took a few moments for Merlin to get to the point where he realised he didn't much care for the time that was being wasted, and let out a wave of energy that knocked most of the sorcerers off balance. He followed up with a series of shots that eventually gave him a pile of unconscious magic users in front of him.  
Thane, having witnessed the display, seemed rather less inclined to attack, and resorted to throwing up a shield.  
Merlin simply sighed, shaking his head slightly.  
"Really Thane? No anchor for the shield…? You are making this far too easy…"  
Gwaine snorted.  
"You call this easy?"  
Merlin grinned.  
"Compared to some things I've been through? Yup. Heck, I was late with Arthur's lunch the other day… I seriously thought he would throw me out the window."  
"What? You would have been fine if I had…" Arthur said, defensively, whilst Gwaine shook his head.  
"A hungry Arthur? Ouch…"  
"Tell me about it…" Merlin said, rolling his eyes, only to be interrupted by Thane, who knocked over a barrel as he attempted to slip away, unnoticed. Merlin stifled a sigh as several of the other sorcerers started stirring, casting his mind out to Arthur.  
"I can't summon the bracelet with magic. I'll distract him, you sneak up and grab the damn thing."  
"Need I remind you he is a powerful sorcerer?"  
"Nope, I got that. Fine, I was just giving you something to do so you didn't seem useless…"  
"I'd rather you just dealt with it?"  
"Of course Sire…"  
Merlin rolled his eyes as he turned back to Thane, who was looking slightly nervous. That is, until he was joined by another familiar face, and one who made Merlin's blood boil.  
"Lucas…"  
"Emrys… How nice to see you again."  
"Not the vibe I was getting, but okay."  
"So, you intend to destroy my plans again?"  
"You're plans? You're in charge of this?" Merlin snorted, "This is the worst attempt to take over Camelot I have ever seen. And I've seen some bad ones. Seriously? Huge great army and you thought no-one would notice?"  
"Well… I suppose we had hoped to be better prepared, but all's well."  
"All's well? Really? What is it with you evil guys and your cryptic 'damn it I've lost but let's pretend I still hold all the cards' thing? It's so unoriginal. Morgana said nothing but that, and see how well that turned out?"  
Thane seemed to snap and Merlin grinned. Just like he'd hoped. Now if he could just get him out from behind that shield…  
"What's that Thane? Don't like to hear about how Morgana's plans were thwarted so easily? What did she do to deserve your loyalty? I assumed that you were all just following Morgause's orders…"  
"No! That witch was undeserving of the friendship Morgana bestowed upon her!"  
So… Some people didn't like Morgause, Merlin mused, that was something to think upon.  
"So… There was a difference between the two? I just assumed that they were both-"  
Merlin threw up a shield against the blast aimed at him, and vanished, reappearing at Thane's, now unshielded, side.  
Snatching at his arm, he wrested the bracelet off, and threw it to Arthur just before he ducked a swipe from Thane.  
"Arthur! Smash the damn thing!"  
As his attention was diverted, Lucas and Thane threw up another shield, blasting him backwards where he hit the side of a cart.  
He shook his head to clear it of the ringing, and rolled out of the way from another blast.  
Jumping to his feet, he dodged another few blows, from various sorcerers that had gotten to their feet, and had to hold back the magic that was trying to escape him.  
Damn it, he thought he had gotten over the control issues… Then Merlin mentally shrugged. Well, whilst he had it…  
Pouring most of the excess energy into the crystal around his neck, he sent a wave of magic at his attackers, knocking them all off balance, before blasting at them.  
Then he heard a thudding and glanced over at Arthur, who was holding a smoldering bracelet.  
The thudding then made sense. Of all the rotten timing… Merlin barely had time to throw up a shield around the others before a herd of creatures burst through the tents and stampeded across the small open space.  
_

"Arthur! Smash the damn thing!"  
Arthur caught the band of gold that Merlin threw at him and blinked. How?  
The knights simply shrugged, they're main focus on Merlin, who had just been blasted across the clearing. Arthur gave a sigh of relief as the warlock got to his feet again, dodging blasts before turning to the offensive. His focus went back to the crystal.  
Then he shrugged, throwing it to the floor. He held up Excalibur and sent the blade down towards the stone with a cry.  
The resulting explosion was rather anti-climactic, in Arthur's opinion, but the small golden wave that exploded from it was rather pretty. He picked it up, seeing how the metal had twisted and the crystal had been completely destroyed, when he heard a thundering start, and turned his head, to see that Merlin had heard the same thing.  
He saw Merlin's eyes widen, then flash gold.  
Arthur felt a warm wave cover him, and saw that the thin blue web with streaks of gold had covered him and the knights, just before the stampede started.  
It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but it seemed like minutes before it passed, the strangled cries of people who weren't shielded echoed over the thundering mass and Arthur spent the whole time hoping that Merlin had got himself shielded in time. Eventually, the last of the creatures vanished from sight and Arthur got to his feet, struggling to see through the dust swirling in the air.  
It took a few seconds to settle, and all of the men were straining to see some sign of their resident Warlock. Gwaine was the first to give a huge sigh of relief, and Arthur, looking in the direction he was indicating, was quick to follow suit.  
Merlin, looking seriously ticked, was glaring at a patch of ground, and it only took them a few seconds to figure out that it was where Lucas and Thane had been standing.  
He stood there for a few seconds before he seemed to shake himself free and turned to the others.  
"You guys okay?"  
"We're fine."  
"Good… The sorcerers seemed to have cleared out. Well, those who could. And I tried to direct the creatures away from the others."  
Merlin stopped as a groan sounded, and they all turned to see one of the enemy sorcerers stirring.  
Arthur gestured and Gwaine and Leon ran over, tying the man up.  
Merlin's eyes flashed and the man went limp, obviously unconscious.  
"Aww, Merlin…" Gwaine whined, "I could have made… friends…"  
"No way," Merlin said, rubbing his temples, "I have had enough trouble over the past few days."  
And, as Arthur took in the tattered and torn clothes, freshly healed wounds, scars, and obvious fatigue of his best friend, he had to agree.  
_

Two hours later and they were on the march back to Camelot.  
Merlin had become engrossed in a conversation with the young druid, Ash, and both they and Taren were laughing and joking about things that many of the others just didn't get.  
Something about conjuring bunnies…?  
Arthur was more focused on planning to send out groups of men as they neared Camelot, to sense any sign of any creatures that may have made it into the kingdom. And he was also planning to get Merlin cooking that evening.  
The others just… couldn't.  
Gwaine and the others were also busy. Relating what had happened to anyone within earshot, and causing Merlin to flush a light pink as he attempted to ignore the looks.  
Overall, the few hours spent travelling had everyone tired and impatient for evening. When Arthur finally called for a halt, it was met with relieved sighs and hasty dismounting of horses.

Merlin grinned as Gwaine's foot got stuck in the stirrups, and he jumped down to help him out.  
Gwaine, clearly slightly tipsy, wrapped an arm around his shoulder and patted him on the back.  
"Ya know Merlin…? You're a good friend. A very, very, very patient and impossible friend. Who I intend to get drunk at the first opportunity I get."  
"If you say so Gwaine…"  
Merlin rolled his eyes as he dumped him in a heap, and head over to Arthur who was calling for him.  
"What?"  
"Leon cannot cook."  
"Right… And what does that have to do with me?"  
"We want something edible… You may have been a useless servant but you could sure as hell cook. What did you put in that stew of yours?"  
"It's a family secret…"  
"Fine. Whatever, just make something that we can actually eat?"  
Merlin laughed at the indignant snort from Leon and nodded.  
"Fine, but in future I'll have to teach one of you to do it."  
Percival, Bedivere, Leon and Gwaine eagerly bobbed up, volunteering, and Merlin laughed as he head over to the saddlebags. Grabbing what he needed, he enlisted Taren's help and started chopping things up and throwing them into several bowls, hung over the fires.  
Ten minutes later, and with delicious aromas floating over the camp, Merlin had had enough of the people sneakily trying to find out his secret and sent them off to hunt a few rabbits.  
Once they had left, he head off in the opposite direction and returned a few minutes later with a young buck-which he had chosen after it was evident the creature wouldn't make it through the coming winter, not wanting to upset the balance of nature too much-.  
To the bemused looks, he simply shrugged.  
"They were annoying me… and we can always have the rabbit in the morning…"  
Arthur simply chuckled and settled down against a tree trunk, happy to let the camp carry on around him. Merlin skinned and gutted the young animal with magic, wasting as little as possible, and added the meat to the stew.  
Twenty minutes later, the others returned with a brace of rabbits, and were rather put out when they found out the real reason for them being sent away. Arthur refused to take part in the resulting vow to find out Merlin's recipe.  
A few more minutes and Merlin got to his feet, grinning, and scattering some kind of seasoning mix into the bowls. Then he turned and gave a slight bow.  
"Dinner is served…"  
_

It was late when Merlin grabbed a load of the dishes and head down to the nearby stream, Ash accompanying him, likewise weighed down.  
The others had already got used to Merlin's weird request to keep his usual jobs, and let him get on with it.  
As Ash helped Merlin swill the bows out, he spoke up.  
"Why do you do this? You know, the cleaning? Surely there is someone else who can-"  
"Arthur said the same thing," Merlin butted in, grinning, "And I'll say the same now as I did then. I want to keep some sense of normality in my life. Some sense of familiarity. So much has changed, it's nice to keep some things the same…"  
"But why not use magic?"  
"Because if I use magic for everything, it just becomes meaningless. Well, for me anyway. I get more satisfaction from doing things by hand."  
"You get satisfaction from washing empty pots?"  
Merlin laughed.  
"Well… I don't know. But I do get satisfaction from beating Arthur at dice without using magic."  
"I thought the others said you cheat?"  
"Nah, they know I'm much too innocent for that…"  
Merlin kept up the straight face for whole three seconds before the two of them burst out laughing. Ash turned serious again after a few moments.  
"Merlin?"  
"Mmm?"  
"Now that my cover with the Brotherhood has been ruined, I can't do anything but head back to my people. But I want to do more than that. Want to be of use in some way. I know you may not want to, but I was wondering, I mean, if you wanted, I could… you know, become your assistant or something? I mean, I know I'm young, and you probably already have people who can… actually, just ignore that. You probably don't want-"  
"I'd be honoured."  
The young man blinked, then grinned.  
"Really?"  
"Definitely. But why? Surely you would rather go home?"  
Ash's face fell.  
"Once, maybe. But my family were among those killed in the attack on the druid settlements by the Brotherhood… I don't have much of a home to go to."  
Merlin's eyes widened, sorrow evident in his expression.  
"I'm sorry… I didn't know... What were they like?"  
The younger man's eyes glazed over lightly as he spoke about them.  
"Well… My mother, she was amazing. Ever since I was a kid, he was the one who helped me learn the art of healing. Most of the other kids learned from the teachers, but my mother always had a gift. My father taught me the more offensive kinds of magic… But I never got very far with that. I wasn't powerful enough for very strong attacks, so only learned the basics. Shields and small blasts. But he always knew my aptitude was for healing and rune based magic. He got my uncle to help with that…"  
Merlin listened as Ash spoke, telling him of the smallest things, the larger things, the memories and the lessons he had had. He couldn't imagine the pain he was going through, having lost his whole family. He also resolved to do everything in his power to help.  
Ash finished taking with a small story about his younger brother and sister. And how they used to have water fights with magic.  
"But Chrissie, she used to do this thing where she twisted water around into spiral then blast it at us. Then Tel would levitate water into the air and let it fall in a small mist, getting us all soaked. Mother would always yell at us for making a mess…"  
He gave a small smile, but then seemed to remember what had happened, and the smile faded as a tear trailed down his cheek.  
"I miss them… And I never even got to say goodbye or to tell them I loved them…"

Merlin pulled the young man into a hug, feeling him shaking, then he pulled back.  
"Hey, listen to me. They knew you loved them. Of course they did. And you may not have got to say goodbye, but I know somewhere where you can go. I lost someone once, someone very special to me, and the pain… It hurt more than anything I have ever felt. But there is a lake… Avalon. It's a place of magic, and I always go there when I want to talk with her. True, she's the lady of the lake and all that, but it doesn't change the fact. I can't pretend to know what you're going through, but I know what it feels like to lose someone you love. I know it hurts."  
"Does it ever stop?"  
"Truly? The pain never really leaves you. But you can't let it eat away at you. You have to let it out. You have to let it out, then remember everything. All the little details. Then you stop blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault..."  
"I don't-"  
"Yes you do. You are telling yourself that you could have done something. That you should have been there. You can't torture yourself with what-ifs, Ash. Because, eventually, they can drive you insane."  
"… Aglain was right."  
"About what?"  
"The fact that you're wiser than a great many of the elders…"  
"I'm not so sure about that. Ask Arthur. I'm sure the response will involve the word idiot…"  
Ash gave a small, shaky laugh, then sighed.  
"Sorry… I shouldn't have-"  
"You have nothing to be sorry about. You ever need to talk to anyone, don't hesitate to come to me, okay? God knows why, but everyone else does… Apparently, I'm wise…"  
Ash grinned.  
"And I'm guessing we shouldn't let Arthur hear that?"  
Merlin gave a dramatic shudder.  
"God no, I'd never hear the end of it. So… You really want to be my assistant?"  
"Yes. I'd be honoured."  
"You're really sure?"  
"Absolutely."  
"Then the honour is mine. There is a spare room in the first floor of my quarters. It's not huge, but it should be big enough. It'll take a day or two to furnish out. Unless you want to stay with the rest of the druids?"  
"No. Thanks, but I'm actually not too fond of underground spaces. Caves, tunnels, anything like that. And after what happened earlier…"  
"Yeah, sorry. Didn't think… I'm actually really impressed. Even a knight of Camelot would take time to recover from something like that... I'd have thought it would take you a couple of days to get back on your feet at least?"  
"It's funny. I thought so too…"  
Merlin was thoughtful for a moment, then grinned.  
"You said you were familiar with rune magic?"  
"Yes?"  
"Well, I have a whole section of books and equipment in my rooms that I have no use for. Might keep you busy for a few hours a day."  
"Really?"  
"Sure. I don't see why not. Just try not to blow anything up?"  
Ash grinned, seemingly unable to believe his luck.  
"You got it."

Half an hour later and they were back at camp. It was obvious to everyone that something had happened, seeing as they were joking away about spouts of water, explosions and runes, but no-one was willing to disrupt their good moods.  
Arthur grinned at the obvious friendship everyone had with Merlin.  
Even the knights that had next to no contact with him, aside from the odd greeting, seemed strangely loyal to him. Not that he was complaining. He thought it was great.  
And he could understand it.  
Many of the men in the clearing were already sleeping, and, as Merlin placed wards around the campsite, Taren got to her feet and head over. The two talked for a bit before Merlin laughed and Taren head back, settling down.  
Arthur couldn't hear what they were talking about and questioned him as he came over and unrolled his sleeping mat with a flick of his fingers.  
"What was that all about?"  
"Evil enchanted bunnies…"  
"Evil... Actually, I don't want to know."  
"First smart thing you have said all evening Sire."  
"From you Merlin? That truly is a compliment. Oh, and, so you know? Bedivere won the bet. They considered your sword skills a surprise, as well as the shield."  
"Great. Now I'm the source of a betting society."  
"Tell me about it…"  
"Oh, and Ash has decided he wants to be my assistant."  
"What?"  
"Well, after what happened with his family, and over the last couple of days, I decided that if he wanted to, I wasn't going to complain. I was going to try and do something to help anyway, but if this is what he wants… Is that okay with you?"  
"Sure," Arthur shrugged, "When we get back, I'll order that spare room furnished. I'm guessing that's why you were discussing runes and explosions…?"  
"Yeah. Or rather, the lack of explosions…"  
"And that's disappointing to you?"  
"I like creating big flashes and bangs and panic. It's fun."  
"You have a weird idea of fun…"  
"Coming from the man who enjoys beating up his friends with a sword?"  
"Oh, that reminds me, I want to see what you can do when we get back. You've gotten ridiculously good…"  
"Freya gave my sword an upgrade…"  
"Really? Like what?"  
As Merlin explained, night fell across the camp and they eventually settled down to sleep.  
They would be back in Camelot in the next few days, and Merlin honestly couldn't wait to get a good night's sleep in his own bed…  
Even with the peace treaties coming up in little over a week…  
Hmm, Merlin mused as he drifted off. Maybe not such a good night's sleep then…


	6. Brightening Things Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a separate one-shot fic, which is set after 'Why is it Never Quiet on The Western Front', which I decided to upload as a chapter.  
> Set a few days after they return form defeating the army of creatures, Arthur demands a sparring match to determine just how good Merlin is with a sword. Cue betting, banter and amusement :D

Merlin sighed as he threw on the chainmail and belted his sword over the top. Arthur, despite all of his protests, had insisted that he wore the chainmail.  
Probably hoped it would slow him down.  
Prat.  
Merlin sighed again.  
Ever since they had seen him with his 'new and improved sword skills', Arthur had been on at him to spar. Eventually, Merlin had given in.  
Much to Bedivere's delight, seeing as he had bet that Merlin would have given in within the first week. Where was the faith, huh?  
Merlin did a few stretches to relax his muscles and muttered a quick spell to make the chainmail weightless. One less thing to worry about. He ran a hand through his hair as he left the tent, wincing slightly as the sunlight hit him before his eyes adjusted.  
Then he sighed again.  
It appeared that the entire bloody city had turned up to see this particular fight. Gwaine was there taking betting slips, and Merlin had no doubt he was the only one who had bet about him lasting more than a few minutes. Hmm, then again, maybe Leon had showed a little faith in him… Maybe…

Merlin ignored the stares that were directed at him, and chose to scowl at the huge grin across Arthur's face. As he came up to him, Merlin's expression changed to a grin.  
"You know what? They came here for a show. Not a sparring match…"  
"What are you trying to say, Merlin?"  
"How about I temporarily dull the edges of the blades? Just a little…"  
"Afraid of a little blood Merlin?"  
"Not my own…"  
"Oh really?" Arthur swung Excalibur, with one hand, in a wide arc, then grasped the hilt with both hands. "Go for it."  
Merlin's eyes flashed, and both of them felt their blades tingle slightly. Then Merlin grinned.  
"You go for it…"  
Arthur laughed, then stepped forward, slashing.  
Merlin's arm swung up and the blades let out a resounding clang. Merlin grinned. He really would have to thank Freya…  
Gasps rang out from the surrounding crowd as Merlin and Arthur ducked, wove, dodged and parried each other's blows.  
After about fifteen minutes, they simultaneously broke off and took a couple of steps back.  
Arthur seemed to be regretting the decision to wear some of his armour and Merlin felt kinda sorry for him. With a flash of gold, Arthur's eyes widened, and he raised an eyebrow at Merlin, his, now weightless, armour not bothering him in the slightest.  
"This would have come in handy before now…"  
"Only just perfected the spell. I do do things in my spare time, you know. Useful things if you can believe that."  
"It's a stretch, but I can just about manage to believe you."  
"Thanks for the show of faith. How long did Gwaine bet I'd last?"  
"Till a tie. Leon went for a slightly less generous twenty minutes. The rest ranged from thirty seconds, Daniel, to fifteen minutes. That was Bedivere."  
"What is it with Daniel and betting against me?"  
"He seems to think that, one day, you will run out of things to surprise us with."  
"Challenge accepted."  
"Great. Just what I need…" Arthur lunged forward again, and Merlin parried the blow. "Another bloody test of wills."  
Merlin sideswiped, then changed to an upwards blow, which Arthur deflected with the hilt of Excalibur.  
"What do you call this?"  
Arthur grinned as Merlin blocked a jab at his left leg, and dodged the resulting backwards swipe.  
"Proving a point."  
Merlin used the momentum from the backwards swipe to spin and aim at Arthurs shoulder, causing the blonde to have to duck, before stepping back. Merlin followed through with a two handed blow towards Arthurs left hand side as he replied.  
"And what point-" He stepped back from the impact as Arthur blocked his attack, then parried the next blow, "would that be, Sire?"  
Arthur sent three blows at Merlin, replying as the younger man blocked them, then gave a lunge of his own, which he was hard pressed to stop.  
"That it is ridiculous to assume that you are amazing at… everything."  
Merlin couldn't help grinning as he span and caused Arthur to have to retreat a few steps as he sent a strike his way, following through with two slashes.  
"First of all… that is rather insulting. Second… we both know that… I can't use a mace to save my life…"  
Arthur shrugged as he blocked the blows and attacked again, exchanging several blows.  
"You don't have to. When… would you ever … use a mace? Seriously, the very idea is ludicrous…"  
"Wow, big word for you, Sire... I'm impressed."  
"Idiot…"  
Arthur dodged the next blow and sent one of his own back.  
"Prat." Merlin retorted, blocking the strike and ducking the slash that followed through, bringing his own sword up and swinging at Arthur's undefended side.  
Arthur managed to spin away from it, and parried the following blow, sending another resounding clash across the clearing. The two stayed that way for a few seconds, and Arthur nodded as they pulled away.  
"You've gotten good. Even if it is a magic sword."  
Merlin snorted as he initiated the next bout.  
"Like yours isn't? You know how much… effort I… put into that… thing?"  
He punctuated each line with a blow, two of which Arthur ducked, and one he parried, pushing Merlin's sword away and bringing his own back in an arc.  
"Alright, alright," he sighed, as Merlin dodged the strike, "You've told me enough times. Riddlesome Kilgarrah this, irritating Kilgarrah that-" he ducked a blow, the sent one of his own. " Then cryptic Kilgarrah, then lake-" he lashed out again, arm jolting as Merlin locked the blow with a more force than he expected, "-and back to the lake, immortal army-" he parried Merlin's two quick blows, and sent one of his own. "-huge rock, ridiculous tale-"  
"Which you believed…" Merlin huffed, sideswiping Arthur's sword and lunging, causing Arthur to have to spin out of the way. Arthur used the momentum to swing himself back around, and caught Merlin's sword, which was wrenched from his grasp.  
Merlin ducked the two blows Arthur followed through with, before rolling, grabbing the hilt of Shadowmancer, and bouncing back to his feet just in time to block the third blow.  
"Seriously though," he continued, as though nothing had happened, "I can't believe you fell for that."  
"Yes," Arthur sighed, "You've said. Many times." He blocked the sideswipe Merlin directed at him, and twisted his sword around, catching the top of Merlin's blade.  
"And I'm saying it again," Merlin retorted, spinning and shoving backwards into Arthur, causing him to pull Excalibur away and unlock the two swords. He span back just as Arthur got his balance back, and the two lunged at the same time, their swords colliding and making a firm 'X ' in the air.  
"The same with all those other excuses I gave. I honestly can't believe it."  
Arthur rolled his eyes as they pulled back,  
"Are you never going to drop it?"  
Merlin shrugged.  
"Nope. Tavern… seriously…" He shook his head, and nearly yelped as Arthur lunged again, barely sidestepping in time to see Arthur fly past him. The king span and aimed another bow at him, which Merlin deflected before following through. Arthur parried it and the two disengaged.  
In the few seconds lull after that, Merlin noticed Gwaine behind Arthur, and sighed.  
"I had my back to… That? How did you cope with the gawping eyes behind my back?"  
"Like you didn't feel them boring into you?"  
"Well, yeah, but I can ignore it. You, on the other hand, can't."  
"And why is that?"  
"People staring at you. It inflates your ego…" Merlin grinned as he parried Arthur's lunge, and finished as he shoved him away. "Which is dangerously high as it is."  
"So I'm in for another bout of ritual humiliation?"  
Merlin twisted his sword around, and did a complicated forward thrust, casing Arthur to have to twist his arm awkwardly to block it.  
"Not from me this time. I've told Gwaine. It's not fair."  
Arthur recovered from the last blow and directed one of his own towards Merlin's right.  
"What? You and him against all of us?"  
Merlin twisted his sword flipping it and holding it up to block the attack, his little finger pressed against the edge of the cross guard. He flipped it back as Arthur took a step backwards and tightened his grip, bringing his other hand to grip the hilt.  
"Precisely." Merlin said, aiming for Arthur's shoulder.  
"Okay, I'll give you that one."  
Arthur said, sidestepping the lunge, and span Excalibur towards Merlin's ribs.  
Merlin back-pedalled and directed Arthur's sword tip upwards, sending it in an arc.  
"Why, thank you Sire." Merlin said, deciding not to follow through the attack, and giving Arthur a grin as he twisted Excalibur back to his side. "How generous of you."  
"No follow through?" Arthur asked, regarding the parry Merlin had just made, and the younger man shrugged.  
"Like you said, I can't be amazing at everything."  
Arthur's eyes widened, and he raised an eyebrow as Merlin spoke again.  
"Anyways, I'm rather bored now. What do you people see in hitting each other with sharp shiny sticks?"  
"I'm not sure myself. But it feels good. Tie?"  
Merlin took the proffered hand and shook it, grinning his signature goofy grin.  
"Tie. Gwaine will be happy."  
"And that's your problem."  
Merlin's grin faded and he face palmed, before pulling off his gloves.  
"Great," he said, one of his gloves between his teeth and voice lightly muffled because of it. "Jus' wha' I nee'…" He pulled off the other glove and stuffed them both through his belt just as Gwaine and Leon reached them shortly followed by the rest of the knights.  
_

Arthur left them to congratulate Merlin and head off to take off his armour.  
He had just entered the tent when Gwen came up beside him and started helping him to unbuckle the various traps and tug off the bracers.  
"He's good." She commented, and Arthur nodded.  
"I know. I really need to pay more attention to how the idiot spends his time… For example, the fact that the armour is weightless."  
Gwen laughed.  
"Handy trick. And, so you know, he spends most of his spare time in the room on the top floor of his quarters. No-one's quite sure what he does up there, and no-one but Ash is brave enough to venture up. And he doesn't tell anybody what Merlin's up to anyway."  
"I know. That kid is as stubborn as Merlin."  
"Aww, come on. You know it's good for Merlin to have someone to talk to and to help him out. I can tell you're worried about him. Don't try to hide it."  
"I'm just worried that he isn't getting enough time to sleep. I don't ever want to see him in a state like he was a few weeks ago."  
"He's fine Arthur. I think Ash is under orders from some of the druid elders, not to mention Gaius, to slip a sleeping draught into his food and drink if he doesn't get enough sleep. And to force feed and drink him if he doesn't eat or drink any of it."  
"Actually… It's not just Gaius and the druids…"  
"Arthur…" At Gwen's warning tone, Arthur had the decency to look slightly sheepish.  
"I was there when Gaius asked, and I turned it into an official kind of… order."  
"Turned what into an order?" Merlin's voice was as chirpy as usual as he came in, already lifting his chainmail over his head and depositing it on one of the benches. He belted his sword back on and rolled his eyes as he saw that Arthur was still wearing most of his armour.  
"What is it with you knightly types and all the metal? Honestly…"

He grumbled under his breath as his expert fingers got Arthur out of the 'metal' within a couple of minutes, and Arthur grinned as he tossed the chainmail on top of the pile.  
Flint chose this moment to walk in.  
"Sorry for the delay, Sire. Bran decided to run riot after a chicken in the courtyard. I swear the dog hates me… Oh, hey Merlin."  
Merlin grinned as Arthur laughed.  
"Tell me about it," Merlin said, sympathetic. "I swear that dog had it in for me since the day I got here… The amount of times he tripped me up…"  
"Oh, the dog tripped you up Merlin?" Arthur butt in, still snorting, "I thought that was your own two feet…?"  
"Arthur? How would you like to be reacquainted with Mr mud puddle? I know you two got on so well last time you… slipped. "  
Arthur sobered up immediately, as he recalled the horrible feeling of being plastered from head to toe in mud. That smelt suspiciously of the stables.  
"You wouldn't…?"  
"Try me."  
Merlin's gin was evil, and Arthur held up his hands.  
"I'd rather not. Unlike Gwaine, I learn the first time…"  
"Second. That time you were training with Leon, called me clumsy and promptly fell over into the mud? Not an accident."  
"Why you little-"  
"Oi!" Gwen's sharp voice rang out, and Flint was grinning as he sauntered off, skirting the half amused, half irritated king.  
"That's enough. You're meant to be grown men."  
"Physically at least," Flint butt in, grinning, "Nobody has said anything about mentally, m'lady. Oh, and I'll have dinner ready just after noon Sire."  
With that, the young man strolled out, thanking Merlin when he muttered a spell that would keep the precariously stacked armour from tumbling to the floor.  
Arthur shook his head as he regarded the retreating back for a moment, then turned to Merlin, his earlier irritation seemingly forgotten.  
"You were right Merlin. I would hate a bootlicker…"  
Merlin grinned, flexing his fingers,  
"My work here is done."  
Gwen just sighed, and pecked Arthur on the cheek.  
"I give up. Just play nice."  
With that, she left, heading in the same direction as Flint, and leaving the two to plan the best way to escape to the castle without being accosted by the eager knights and spectators.  
_

Half an hour, and one light bending enchantment later, and the two were safely in Arthur's stateroom.  
Merlin slumped down and pulled a huge pile of paperwork towards him, sighing as he sent a mental note to Flint, made easier by the fact that his mind was familiar and by the fact that he had no problem with Merlin speaking to him in this fashion.  
"Better make that a meal for two, Flint. Bloody paperwork…"  
"Stateroom?" Flint responded,  
"Yeah…"  
"No problem."  
"Thanks Flint…"  
Merlin cut the link off and told Arthur what had been said, making him sigh.  
"Two hours till lunch. Two hours of paperwork and your snide remarks about my terrible writing skills. Brilliant."  
"Oh, don't tell me I don't brighten up the dull chore of drafting responses to…" Merlin picked up a piece of parchment and read it, and the name of the sender, "Lord Ramar with regards to the influx of leather compared to the relative prices charged by Camelotian leather tanners. " He whistled slightly. "Wow. That's a bad one. Almost as bad as the 'if we were to repave the street that has been upturned, we would have to give the utmost regard to the colour and shade of the stones' Remember that one Arthur?"  
Arthur blanched.  
"Who could forget… Reading it and doing a response was one of the dullest seven minutes of my life."  
"I wrote it!"  
"And I had to approve it."  
"You had to-!" Merlins eyes widened in mock outrage. "I'm the one that approves your work, your royal pratness. Or had you forgotten the great speech mistake from two years ago?"  
Arthur shuddered at the memory, still grateful that Merlin had spotted the… error. Not that he was going to let the idiot know that.  
"Oh, that was years ago. Just sit down. If we make a start now, we may be done before the sun sets."  
Merlin gave a dramatic sigh and flopped down, pulling a sheaf of parchment towards him and picking up a quill.  
"Fine. But this is the last time Arthur. The very last time I'm helping you with this."  
Arthur grinned as Merlin got to work, obviously using magic to speed up his own time a little as his eyes scanned the parchment and his hand flew across the blank sheets a shade faster than was normal . He pulled a pile towards him and picked up his own quill, not in the lightest bit worried about Merlin's threat.  
He'd said the same thing two days ago… and the week before… and twice the week before that. Heck, he'd been saying it for weeks. Months. Years even, Arthur realised, as he recalled a much younger Merlin informing a much younger Arthur that he could 'damn well write his own speeches from now on'.  
The king grinned as he watched his friend scowl, obviously coming across boring one, boredom level six at least, judging from the width and depth of the scowl on his face.  
Then he picked up his own and cursed.  
It was at least a level eight…

But before long they were bickering again, and a small part of Arthur had to agree with Merlin's earlier statement.  
Merlin really did brighten up these tedious moments.  
Idiot.


End file.
